Meanings
plural enantiodromias
- countableuncountablehuman sciencesThe principle in Jungian psychology whereby the superabundance of one force inevitably produces its opposite, as with physical equilibrium.First known use 20th c.
By what he termed the law of enantiodromia, or the reversal into the opposite, the other function entered in, namely, feeling for the introvert, and thinking for the extravert.
2009, Sonu Shamdasani, in C. G. Jung, The Red Book: Liber Novus, Philemon 2009, p. 2101 more example
If one wishes to gain an understanding of how humanity could shift from the one to the other, one needs to have an understanding of the enantiodromia (a movement that turns into its opposite) of the development of gathering into agriculture.
1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 131
Origin
- Ancient Greekἐναντιοδρομία“running in a contrary direction”
- Englishenantiodromia
From Ancient Greek ἐναντιοδρομία (enantiodromía, “running in a contrary direction”), from ἐναντίος (enantíos, “opposite”) + δρόμος (drómos, “running”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
enantiodromia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enantiodromia
“enantiodromia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enantiodromia. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “enantiodromia,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enantiodromia.
Source: enantiodromia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.