Etymology

contrapposto

con·trap·pos·to
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Today it means: The position of a human figure whose hips and legs are twisted away from the direction of the head and shoulders; (countable) an instance of this. Full definition →

First used 20th c.Italian contrapposto ← Latin contrāpōnere
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The story

  1. Italian · borrowed fromcontrapposti
  2. Latin · derived fromcontrāpōnere
  3. Italian · borrowed fromcontrapposto“contrasting; opposing”
  4. English todaycontrapposto

Borrowed from Italian contrapposto (“contrasting; opposing”, adjective), the past participle of contrapporre (“to set against, counter”), from Latin contrāpōnere, the present active infinitive of contrāpōnō (“to oppose; to place opposite”), from contrā (“against; contrary to”) + pōnō (“to place, put”). The plural form contrapposti is borrowed from Italian contrapposti, the masculine plural form of contrapposto.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 20th c. The position of a human figure whose hips and legs are twisted away from the direction of the head and shoulders; (countable) an instance of this.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.