"Enantiodrome" redirects here. For the Jungian principle of equilibrium, seeEnantiodromia.
Acontronym orcontranym is a word with twooppositemeanings. For example, the wordoriginal can mean "authentic, traditional", or "novel, never done before". This feature is also calledenantiosemy,[1][2]enantionymy (enantio- means "opposite"),antilogy orautoantonymy. An enantiosemic term is by definitionpolysemic.
A contronym is alternatively called anautantonym,auto-antonym,antagonym,[3][4]enantiodrome,enantionym,Janus word (after the Roman godJanus, who is usually depicted with two faces),[4]self-antonym,antilogy, oraddad (Arabic, singulardidd).[5][6]
Some pairs of contronyms are truehomographs, i.e., distinct words with differentetymologies which happen to have the same form.[7] For instancecleave "separate" is fromOld Englishclēofan, whilecleave "adhere" is from Old Englishclifian, which was pronounced differently.
Other contronyms are a form ofpolysemy, but where a single word acquires different and ultimately opposite definitions. For example,sanction—"permit" or "penalize";bolt (originally fromcrossbows)—"leave quickly" or "fix/immobilize";fast—"moving rapidly" or "fixed in place". Some English examples result fromnouns beingverbed in the patterns of "add <noun> to" and "remove <noun> from"; e.g.dust,seed,stone.Denotations andconnotations can drift or branch over centuries. Anapocryphal story relates howCharles II (or sometimesQueen Anne) describedSt Paul's Cathedral (using contemporaneous English) as "awful, pompous, and artificial", with the meaning (rendered in modern English) of "awe-inspiring, majestic, and ingeniously designed."[8]
Negative words such asbad[9] andsick sometimes acquire ironic senses byantiphrasis[10] referring to traits that are impressive and admired, if not necessarily positive (that outfit is bad as hell;lyrics full of sick burns).
Some contronyms result from differences invarieties of English. For example, totable a bill means "to put it up for debate" inBritish English, while it means "to remove it from debate" inAmerican English (where British English would have "shelve", which in this sense has an identical meaning in American English). Tobarrack, inAustralian English, is to loudly demonstrate support, while in British English it is to express disapproval and contempt.
InLatin,sacer has the double meaning "sacred, holy" and "accursed, infamous". Greekδημιουργός gave Latin itsdemiurgus, from which English got itsdemiurge, which can refer either toGod as thecreator or to thedevil, depending on philosophical context.
In some languages, a word stem associated with a single event may treat the action of that event as unitary, so in translation it may appear contronymic. For example, Latinhospes can be translated as both "guest" and "host". In some varieties of English,borrow may mean both "borrow" and "lend".
Dust can mean "to remove dust" (cleaning a house) or "to add dust" (e.g., to dust a cake with powdered sugar).[4][11]
Fast can mean "without moving; fixed in place", (holding fast, also as in "steadfast"), or "moving quickly".[4][11]
Obbligato in music traditionally means a passage is "obligatory" but has also been used to mean "optional".[12][13]
Overlook can mean "to make an accidental omission or error" or "to engage in close scrutiny or control".[14]
Oversight can mean "accidental omission or error" or "close scrutiny or control".[15]
Peruse can mean to "consider with attention and in detail" or "look over or through in a casual or cursory manner".[16][17]
Ravel can mean "to separate" (e.g., threads in cloth) or "to entangle".[18]
Sanction can mean "approve" or "penalize".
Table can mean "to discuss a topic at a meeting" (British English) or "to postpone discussion of a topic" (American English). Canadian English uses both meanings of the word.[19]
TheGerman verbausleihen, theDutch verblenen, theAfrikaans verbleen, thePolish verbpożyczyć, theRussian verbодолжить (odolžítʹ), theFinnish verblainata, and theEsperanto verbprunti can mean either "to lend" or "to borrow", withcase, pronouns, and mention of persons making the sense clear. The verb stem conveys that "a lending-and-borrowing event is occurring", and the other cues convey who is lending to whom. This makes sense because anytime lending is occurring, borrowing is simultaneously occurring; one cannot happen without the other.
TheGerman verbumfahren can mean either "to drive around" or "to run over". The two variants are distinguished by stress, though. TheAfrikaans verbomry can also mean either "to drive around" or "to run over", but with no distinction in pronunciation.
TheRomanian verba închiria, theFrench verblouer, theAfrikaans verbhuur, the Finnish verbvuokrata[20] and the Spanishalquilar[10] andarrendar[21] mean "to rent" (as thelessee does) as well as "to let" (as thelessor does). The English verbrent can also describe either the lessee's or the lessor's role.
TheSwahili verbkutoa means both "to remove" and "to add".
TheChinese word "打败", it means both "be defeated" and "to defeat".
ThePersian verb چیدن (čidan) means both "to pluck" and "to arrange" (i.e. by putting objects down).
In Spanishdar (basic meaning "to give"), when applied to lessons or subjects, can mean "to teach", "to take classes" or "to recite", depending on the context.[22] Similarly with theFrench verbapprendre, which usually means "to learn" but may refer to the action of teaching someone.[23] Dutchleren andAfrikaansleer can mean "to teach" or "to learn".
TheIndonesian verbsmenghiraukan andmengacuhkan can mean "to regard" or "to ignore".
TheIndonesian/Malay adjectiveusah can mean "required" or "discouraged" (disambiguated by the use oftidak ortak "don't").
Latinnimius means "excessive, too much". It maintained this meaning in Spanishnimio, but it was also misinterpreted as "insignificant, without importance".[28][10]
InVietnamese,minh means among other things "bright, clear" (fromSino-Vietnamese明) and "dead, gloomy" (from冥). Because of this, the name of the dwarf planetPluto is not adapted from冥王星 as in Chinese, Japanese and Korean.[29][30][31]
Spanishdichoso meant originally "blissful, fortunate" as intierra dichosa, "fortunate land". However it developed an ironic and colloquial meaning "bothersome, unlucky", as in¡Dichosas moscas!, "Damned flies!".[32]
Seeming contronyms can arise from translation. InHawaiian, for example,aloha is translated both as "hello" and as "goodbye", but the essential meaning of the word is "love", whether used as a greeting or farewell. Similarly,안녕 (annyeong) inKorean can mean both "hello" and "goodbye" but the central meaning is "peace". TheItalian greetingciao is translated as "hello" or "goodbye" depending on the context; the original meaning was "at your service" (literally "(I'm your) slave").[33]
^Liberman, Anatoly (25 September 2013)."Etymology gleanings for September 2013".Oxford Etymologist. Oxford University Press. Retrieved25 September 2013.The coexistence of two opposite meanings in a word is called enantiosemy, and the examples are rather numerous.
^"dar".Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish) (23 ed.). RAE-ASALE. 2021. Retrieved22 April 2022.14. tr. Impartir una lección, pronunciar una conferencia o charla. 15. tr. Recibir una clase. Ayer dimos clase de matemáticas. 16. tr. Dicho de un alumno: Recitar la lección.
