Etymology

counterstain

C3O1U1N1T1E1R1S1T1A1I1N1

Today it means: A stain contrasting with the principal stain in color, thus making the stained structure easier to see Full definition →

English stain ← Middle English counter- ← Anglo-Norman countre-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
  3. Proto-Italic*kom
  4. Proto-Italic*kom-
  5. Proto-Italic*komteros
  6. Proto-Italic*komterād
  7. Latincontrā
  8. Old Frenchcontre-
  9. Anglo-Normancountre-
  10. Middle Englishcounter-
  11. Englishcounter-
  12. Englishstain
  13. English todaycounterstain

From counter- + stain.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.