Standard Lemma guide

counter-

prefix · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈkaʊn.tə/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Canada, General-American: /ˈkaʊn.tɚ/
  • Canada, General-American: /ˌkaʊn.tɚ/
  • Australian: /ˈkæɔn.tə/

1

prefix

Meaning 1

In opposition to.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: morpheme

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Proto-Indo-European *-teros Proto-Italic *-teros Proto-Italic *komterosder. Proto-Italic *komterād Latin contrāder. Old French contre- Anglo-Norman countre-bor. Middle English counter- English counter- From Middle English counter-, cownter-, countre-, from Anglo-Norman countre-, from Old French contre, ultimately from Latin contra (“against”). Doublet of contra-.

Across languages

Translations

29 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: əks- — in opposition to
  • Catalan: contra- — in opposition to
  • Chinese Mandarin: 反 (fǎn) — in opposition to
  • Dutch: tegen- — in opposition to
  • Finnish: vasta- — in opposition to
  • French: contre- — in opposition to
  • Georgian: კონტრ- (ḳonṭr-) — in opposition to
  • Georgian: კონტრა- (ḳonṭra-) — in opposition to
  • German: gegen- — in opposition to
  • German: kontra- — in opposition to
  • Greek: αντι- (anti-) — in opposition to
  • Ancient Greek: ἀντι- (anti-) — in opposition to
  • Italian: contro- — in opposition to
  • Italian: contra- — in opposition to
  • Japanese: 反 (han) — in opposition to
  • Macedonian: против- (protiv-) — in opposition to
  • Macedonian: анти- (anti-) — in opposition to
  • Macedonian: контра- (kontra-) — in opposition to
  • Polish: kontr- — in opposition to
  • Polish: kontra- — in opposition to
  • Polish: anty- — in opposition to
  • Polish: przeciw- — in opposition to
  • Portuguese: contra- — in opposition to
  • Russian: контр- (kontr-) — in opposition to
  • Russian: противо- (protivo-) — in opposition to
  • Scottish Gaelic: frith- — in opposition to
  • Serbo-Croatian: protiv- — in opposition to
  • Serbo-Croatian: против- — in opposition to
  • Spanish: contra- — in opposition to