Contrariety

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /kÉ’ntɹəˈɹʌɪəti/

Origin

From Middle French contrariété, from Late Latin contrarietas, from contrarius, from contra ("against"). Compare contrary.

Full definition of contrariety

Noun

1. Opposition or contrariness; cross-purposes, marked contrast.
• 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, II.12:What differences of sense and reason, what contrarietie of imaginations doth the diversitie of our passions present unto us?
• 1759, Laurence Sterne, The Life & Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, Penguin 2003, page 61:This contrariety of humours betwixt my father and my uncle, was the source of many a fraternal squabble.
• 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island:The wind blowing steady and gentle from the south, thee was no contrariety between that and the current, and the billows rose and fell unbroken.
• 2011, Tim Blanning, "The reinvention of the night", Times Literary Supplement, 21 Sep 2011:At the heart of his argument is the contrariety between day and night, light and dark.