contra1
[kon-truh]
- against; in opposition or contrast to: Consider the problems of the teenager contra those of the adult.
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- contrariwise; on or to the contrary.
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Origin of contra1
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin contrā
contra2
[kon-truh; Spanish kawn-trah]
- (often initial capital letter) a member of a counterrevolutionary guerrilla group in Nicaragua.
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Origin of contra2
contra-1
- a prefix meaning “against,” “opposite,” “opposing”: contradistinction, contraindicate.
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Origin of contra-1
< Late Latin, Latin, prefixal use of adverb and preposition contrā
contra-2
- a prefix meaning “pitched lower than” the voice or instrument specified by the following element: contralto, contrabassoon.
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Origin of contra-2
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
antithesis, contrary, reversal, inverse, paradox, reverse, obverse, converse, contradiction, counterpart, foil, opposition, antipode, antonym, contrast, contra, about-face, back, underside, regressionExamples from the Web for contra
Contemporary Examples
But contra William Faulkner, there are signs that the past is finally becoming past.
The country had just emerged from a civil war and was in the midst of the rising Contra conflict of the early 1980s.
So now we're apparently back to saying, contra the Obama administration, that Iran's program is still progressing.
Not by Israeli forces, the UN now reports, contra previous stories from the WaPo and the BBC last November.
Contra Ricardo, the share going to land is declining steadily and capital is capturing the gains.
Don't Have Enough to Worry About? Here's One More Thing: Low Growth May be Here to Stay.Megan McArdle
March 4, 2013
Historical Examples
For in this, as every other step in life, there is a pro and contra.
The Flag of DistressMayne Reid
He did not live long after the completion of the Contra Celsum.
Let us see whether there are any contra- dictions in the Bible.
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 5 (of 12)Robert G. Ingersoll
He showed himself a man of might, and insight too, in his Contra haereticos.
The Mediaeval Mind (Volume II of II)Henry Osborn Taylor
A comparison of the explanation of this passage in Contra Crescon.
Writings in Connection with the Donatist ControversyAurelius Augustine
contra-
- against; contrary; opposing; contrastingcontraceptive; contradistinction
- (in music) pitched belowcontrabass
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Word Origin
from Latin, from contrā against
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for contra
mid-14c., from Latin contra (prep. and adv.) "against," originally "in comparison with," ablative singular feminine of *com-teros, from Old Latin com "with, together" (see com-) + -tr, zero degree of the comparative suffix -ter-.
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Contra
n.
1981, "anti-Sandinista Nicaraguan," short for Spanish contrarrevolucionario "counter-revolutionary."
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contra-
word-forming element meaning "against, in opposition," from Latin adverb and preposition contra (see contra). The Latin word was used as a prefix in Late Latin. In French, it became contre- and passed into English as counter-. The Old English equivalent was wiðer (surviving in withers and widdershins), from wið "with, against."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
contra-
- Against; opposite; contrasting:contraindication.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.