Etymology

contrariety

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Today it means: Opposition or contrariness; cross-purposes, marked contrast. Full definition →

Middle French contrariété ← Late Latin contrarietas ← Latin contra
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromcontra“against”
  2. Late Latin · derived fromcontrarietas
  3. Middle French · borrowed fromcontrariété
  4. English todaycontrariety

Borrowed from Middle French contrariété, from Late Latin contrarietas, from contrarius, from Latin contra (“against”). By surface analysis, contrary + -ety.

Words from the same roots

Latincontra all →

controlcounterconcontra-contragredientcontravallationcontrayervacontrecoupcounter-

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.