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contraposition

[kon-truh-puh-zish-uh n]
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noun
  1. placement opposite or against.
  2. opposition, contrast, or antithesis.
  3. Logic. the inference drawn from a proposition by negating its terms and changing their order, as by inferring “Not B implies not A” from “A implies B.”
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Origin of contraposition

First recorded in 1545–55, contraposition is from the Late Latin word contrāposition- (stem of contrāpositiō). See contra1, position
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

antithesiscontradictioncontradistinctioncontrarietycontrarinesscontrastpolarity

Examples from the Web for contraposition

Historical Examples

  • It is for dealing with these intractable moods that Contraposition is required.

    Logic, Inductive and Deductive

    William Minto

  • We have given examples and illustrations in the paragraph describing Conversion by Contraposition.

    Thought-Culture

    William Walker Atkinson

  • A further process, known as Contraposition or Conversion by Negation, consists of conversion following on obversion.

  • They are all remarkable for harmonies attained by certain combinations of shade in gradations with colours in contraposition.

  • In this it differs from Obversion, Conversion, and Contraposition, each of which stands for one process.

    Logic

    Carveth Read

British Dictionary definitions for contraposition

contraposition

noun
  1. the act of placing opposite or against, esp in contrast or antithesis
  2. logic the derivation of the contrapositive of a given categorial proposition
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for contraposition

n.

1550s, from Late Latin contrapositionem (nominative contrapositio), noun of action from past participle stem of contraponere, from contra "against" (see contra) + ponere "to put, place" (see position (n.)).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper