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English
Etymology
Ultimately from Latin contrā.
Pronunciation
Preposition
contra
- against; contrary or opposed to; in opposition or contrast to
Synonyms
Antonyms
Related terms
Translations
against, contrary or opposed to
Adverb
contra (comparative more contra, superlative most contra)
- contrary to something
1893 November 30, “The W.C.T.U. Convention. Interesting Reports Considered in Relation to the Several Departments of the Work. Suggested Lines of Development—Programme for the Closing Day.”, in The Daily Colonist, volume LXX, number 148, Victoria, B.C., page 3, column 1:[…] it is useless to pray “Thy kingdom come” and vote contra or stay away from the polls; […]
Synonyms
Translations
contrary to something
- Arabic: عَلَى اَلْعَكْس (ʕalā l-ʕaks), عَلَى اَلنَّقِيض مِن (ʕalā n-naqīḍ min), ضِد (ḍid)
- Egyptian Arabic: عكس (ʕakss), ضد (ḍeḍ)
- Bulgarian: напротив (bg) (naprotiv), наопаки (bg) (naopaki)
- German: gegen (de), im Gegensatz zu m, contra (de), gegnerisch (de), gegengesetzt, entgegengesetzt (de)
- Polish: wbrew (pl)
- Romanian: împotrivă (ro), contra (ro)
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Noun
contra (plural contras)
- (business) A deal to swap goods or services.
- (politics, derogatory) A conservative; originally tied to Nicaraguan counter-revolutionaries.
- (accounting, often attributive) An entry (or account) that cancels another entry (or account).
- Synonym: counterentry
a contra position; a contra entry
The sum for each contra account is shown in the last column.
- (music, informal) Any of the musical instruments in the contrabass range, e.g. contrabassoon, contrabass clarinet or, especially, double bass.
- (dance) A contra dance.
- (obsolete, US, New England, dance) A country dance.
2001, Ellen Koskoff, editor, The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: North America, Garland Publishing, page 232:Folk histories record that contras were gradually displaced by the introduction of the quadrille and the new couple dances.
Translations
(business) a deal to swap goods or services
(accounting) an entry (or account) that cancels another entry
Verb
contra (third-person singular simple present contras, no present participle, no simple past or past participle)
- (accounting) To undo; to reverse.
to contra a position (an entry)
Translations
(accounting) to undo an entry
Anagrams
Asturian
Etymology
From Latin contrā.
Pronunciation
Preposition
contra
- alongside, beside, next to
- Synonym: xunto
- forward, in front
- Synonym: delantre
- against (reduced)
- Synonym: escontra
Related terms
Interjection
¡contra!
- interjection of exclamation or anger
- Synonyms: carape, meca
Catalan
Etymology
Inherited from Latin contrā.
Pronunciation
Adverb
contra
- against
2009, Jean Grave, Les Aventures d'en Nono:Més endavant, va parlar contra la gent sense família- But before, he spoke against people without family
Noun
contra m (plural contres)
- con (disadvantage)
- Antonym: pro
Related terms
Further reading
Dalmatian
Etymology
From Latin contrā.
Adverb
contra
- against
References
- Bartoli, Matteo (1906) Il Dalmatico: Resti di un’antica lingua romanza parlata da Veglia a Ragusa e sua collocazione nella Romània appenino-balcanica, Rome: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, published 2000
Finnish
Etymology
From Spanish contra.
Pronunciation
Noun
contra
- Contra (anti-Sandinista fighter)
Declension
Synonyms
Derived terms
Further reading
French
Pronunciation
Verb
contra
- third-person singular past historic of contrer
Anagrams
Galician
Etymology
From Latin contrā.
Pronunciation
Preposition
contra
- against
Derived terms
Noun
contra f (plural contras)
- (usually in the plural) shutter
References
- “contra” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
- “contra” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
- “contra” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
- “contra” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
- “contra” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.
Further reading
Italian
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Latin contrā.
Preposition
contra
- (archaic) Alternative form of contro (“against”)
Descendants
See also
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
contra
- inflection of contrare:
- third-person singular present indicative
- second-person singular imperative
Anagrams
Ladin
Etymology
From Latin contrā.
Preposition
contra
- against
Latin
Etymology
From Proto-Italic *komterād, ablative singular feminine of *komteros (“the other of the two who meet, opposite”). The ablative singular masculine/neuter of the same is continued in Latin contrō-, cognate to Oscan contrud. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱómteros, from *ḱóm (“next to, at, with, along”) + *-teros (contrastive suffix); thus, a doublet of cum, comparable to the relation between intrā and in, and extrā and ex, but unlike these lacking external cognates, and therefore of Italic origin.
The change from instrumental/ablative to accusative is caused by *-teros used adverbially.
Pronunciation
Adverb
contrā (not comparable)
- against
- opposite to
- contrary to
- otherwise
- in return, back
Preposition
contrā (+ accusative)
- against
- across from, opposite
Derived terms
Descendants
- Balkan Romance:
- Dalmatian:
- Italo-Romance:
- Padanian:
- Northern Gallo-Romance:
- Southern Gallo-Romance:
- Ibero-Romance:
- Insular Romance:
- Borrowings:
References
- ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “contrā”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 132
Further reading
- “contra”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “contra”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- contra in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- contra in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- to contradict some one: dicere contra aliquem or aliquid (not contradicere alicui)
- it is a breach of duty to..: contra officium est c. Inf.
- for the advantage of the state; in the interests of the state: e re publica (opp. contra rem p.)
- a thing is illegal: aliquid contra legem est
- to foster revolutionary projects: contra rem publicam sentire
- to be guilty of high treason: contra rem publicam facere
- to conspire with some one: conspirare cum aliquo (contra aliquem)
- against all law, human and divine: contra ius fasque
- contra in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, pre-publication website, 2005-2016
Occitan
Etymology
From Latin contra.
Pronunciation
Preposition
contra
- against
Portuguese
Etymology
From Latin contrā.
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -õtɾɐ
- Hyphenation: con‧tra
Preposition
contra
- against
- Antonyms: a favor, em prol, em favor, em defesa
Ele é contra a proposta.- He is against the proposal.
Tiveram que nadar contra a corrente.- They had to swim against the current.
Não é justo, são três contra um.- It's not fair, it's three against/on one.
Related terms
Further reading
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from French contre, Italian contra, Latin contrā. Doublet of the inherited către.
Pronunciation
Preposition
contra
- against, versus
Adverb
contra
- against, opposed to, opposite
- in exchange for
Spanish
Etymology
Inherited from Latin contrā. Old Spanish had cuentra as well, with diphthongization of stressed Latin /ŏ/. As the word was generally atonic, the unstressed variant contra prevailed over time.
Pronunciation
Preposition
contra
- against, versus
- Synonym: en oposición a
- Antonym: a favor de
la lucha contra el prejuicio- the fight against prejudice
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
Noun
contra m (plural contras)
- con (disadvantage)
- Antonym: pro
Noun
contra f (plural contras)
- antidote
- counterpunch
- counterattack
- Contra (guerrilla)
Derived terms
Adverb
contra
- opposite, facing
- Synonym: en oposición a
- Antonym: a favor de
Further reading
- “contra”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
- Joan Coromines, José A. Pascual (1984) “contra”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico (in Spanish), volumes II (Ce–F), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 182
Anagrams