Contronym

A contronym is alternatively called an autantonym, auto-antonym, antagonym,{{Cite Merriam-Webster| contronym |accessdate=2024-07-22}}{{Cite web|title=Nym Words > Autoantonyms|url=http://www.fun-with-words.com/nym_autoantonyms.html|access-date=2016-09-22|website=www.fun-with-words.com}} enantiodrome, enantionym, Janus word (after the Roman god Janus, who is usually depicted with two faces), self-antonym, antilogy, or addad (Arabic, singular didd).{{cite web|title='Addad' : a study of homo-polysemous opposites in Arabic|url=http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/ER/detail/hkul/3849764|access-date=2 August 2011}}{{cite web|last=Gall|first=Nick|title=Antagonyms|url=http://ironick.typepad.com/ironick/2003/11/antagonyms.html|access-date=2 August 2011}}

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Some pairs of contronyms are true homographs, i.e., distinct words with different etymologies which happen to have the same form.{{cite web |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/words-own-opposites |title=Words That are Their Own Opposites|publisher=Merriam-Webster |access-date=2024-07-27}} For instance cleave "separate" is from Old English clēofan, while cleave "adhere" is from Old English clifian, which was pronounced differently.

Other contronyms are a form of polysemy, but where a single word acquires different and ultimately opposite definitions. For example, sanction—"permit" or "penalize"; bolt (originally from crossbows)—"leave quickly" or "fix/immobilize"; fast—"moving rapidly" or "fixed in place". Some English examples result from nouns being verbed in the patterns of "add <noun> to" and "remove <noun> from"; e.g. dust, seed, stone. Denotations and connotations can drift or branch over centuries. An apocryphal story relates how Charles II (or sometimes Queen Anne) described St Paul's Cathedral (using contemporaneous English) as "{{lang|en-emodeng|awful, pompous, and artificial}}", with the meaning (rendered in modern English) of "awe-inspiring, majestic, and ingeniously designed."{{cite web|url=http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/10/31/st-pauls-cathedral/|title=St Paul's Cathedral Is Amusing, Awful, and Artificial|last=O’Toole|first=Garson|date=31 October 2012|work=Quote Investigator|access-date=22 January 2015}}

Negative words such as {{lang|en-US|bad|italic=yes}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://genius.com/Rundmc-peter-piper-lyrics |title=Peter Piper |type=CD |language=en-US |publisher=Profile Records |year=1986 |volume=Raising Hell |quote=He's the big bad wolf in your neighborhood / not bad meaning bad, but bad meaning good |people=Darryl McDaniels, Joseph Simmons (for Run-DMC)}} and sick sometimes acquire ironic senses by antiphrasis 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 in varieties of English. For example, to table a bill means "to put it up for debate" in British English, while it means "to remove it from debate" in American English (where British English would have "shelve", which in this sense has an identical meaning in American English). To barrack, in Australian English, is to loudly demonstrate support, while in British English it is to express disapproval and contempt.

In Latin, {{lang|la|sacer}} has the double meaning "sacred, holy" and "accursed, infamous". Greek {{lang|grc|δημιουργός}} gave Latin its {{lang|la|demiurgus}}, from which English got its demiurge, which can refer either to God as the creator or to the devil, 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, Latin {{lang|la|hospes}} can be translated as both "guest" and "host". In some varieties of English, borrow may mean both "borrow" and "lend".

{{Wiktionary category|category=English contranyms|type=contronyms in English}}

• Original can mean "authentic, traditional", or "novel, never done before"
• Cleave can mean "to cling" or "to split apart".{{Cite web |url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/57032/25-words-are-their-own-opposites |title=25 Words That Are Their Own Opposites |website=mentalfloss.com |first=Judith |last=Herman |date=15 June 2018 |access-date=2022-09-10}}
• Clip can mean "attach" or "cut off".
• Dust can mean "to remove dust" (cleaning a house) or "to add dust" (e.g., to dust a cake with powdered sugar). This contradiction features in the children's book Amelia Bedelia.[https://lccn.loc.gov/63014367 "Amelia Bedelia"]. LC Online Catalog. Library of Congress (lccn.loc.gov). Retrieved 2016-02-18.
• Fast can mean "without moving; fixed in place", (holding fast, also as in "steadfast"), or "moving quickly".
• Obbligato in music traditionally means a passage is "obligatory" but has also been used to mean "optional"."Obbligato" in Lectionary of Music, Nicolas Slonimsky. McGraw-Hill {{ISBN|0-07-058222-X}}"Obbligato" in Collins Music Encyclopedia, Westrup & Harrison: Collins, London, 1959
• Overlook can mean "to make an accidental omission or error" or "to engage in close scrutiny or control".{{Cite web |date=2023-09-01 |title=Definition of OVERLOOK |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overlook |access-date=2023-09-12 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}
• Oversight can mean "accidental omission or error" or "close scrutiny or control".{{Cite web |date=2023-09-07 |title=Definition of OVERSIGHT |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oversight |access-date=2023-09-12 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}
• Peruse can mean to "consider with attention and in detail" or "look over or through in a casual or cursory manner".{{cite web |title=Definition of PERUSE |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peruse |website=www.merriam-webster.com |access-date=28 June 2020 |language=en |quote=to ... EFFECT}}{{cite web |title=Janus Words |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/words-own-opposites |website=www.merriam-webster.com |access-date=28 June 2020 |language=en |quote=to ... EFFECT}}
• Ravel can mean "to separate" (e.g., threads in cloth) or "to entangle".{{cite book |title=The Canadian Oxford dictionary |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195418163 |page=1283 |edition=2nd |quote=entangle...disentangle, unravel}}
• 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.{{cite book |editor1-last=Barber |editor1-first=Katherine |title=Canadian Oxford Dictionary |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press Canada |location=Don Mills, Ontario |isbn=9780195418163 |page=1580 |edition=Second}}

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• The Korean noun 앞 (ap) may mean either "future" or "past" (distinguished by context).

• The German verb ausleihen, the Dutch verb lenen, the Afrikaans verb leen, the Polish verb pożyczyć, the Russian verb одолжить (odolžítʹ), the Finnish verb lainata, and the Esperanto verb prunti can mean either "to lend" or "to borrow", with case, 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.
• The German verb umfahren can mean either "to drive around" or "to run over". The two variants are distinguished by stress, though. The Afrikaans verb omry can also mean either "to drive around" or "to run over", but with no distinction in pronunciation.
• The Romanian verb a închiria, the French verb louer, the Afrikaans verb huur, the Finnish verb vuokrata{{Cite web|title=sanakirja.org|url=https://www.sanakirja.org/search.php?id=119813&l2=3|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126130436/https://www.sanakirja.org/search.php?id=119813&l2=3 |archive-date=2021-11-26 }} and the Spanish {{lang|es|alquilar}} and {{lang|es|arrendar}}{{cite web |last1=Prieto García-Seco |first1=David |title=Rinconete. Lengua. «Huésped» o significar una cosa y la contraria |url=https://cvc.cervantes.es/el_rinconete/anteriores/mayo_21/28052021_01.htm |website=cvc.cervantes.es |publisher=Centro Virtual Cervantes |access-date=7 May 2023 |language=es |date=2021-05-28}} mean "to rent" (as the lessee does) as well as "to let" (as the lessor does). The English verb {{wikt-lang|en|rent}} can also describe either the lessee's or the lessor's role.
• The Swahili verb kutoa means both "to remove" and "to add".
• The Chinese word "打败" means both "to be defeated" and "to defeat".
• The Persian verb چیدن (čidan) means both "to pluck" and "to arrange" (i.e. by putting objects down).
• In Spanish {{wikt-lang|es|dar}} (basic meaning "to give"), when applied to lessons or subjects, can mean "to teach", "to take classes" or "to recite", depending on the context.{{cite book| title=Diccionario de la lengua española |date=2021 |publisher=RAE-ASALE |edition=23 |url=https://dle.rae.es/dar?m=form |access-date=22 April 2022 |language=es |chapter=dar |quote=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.}} Similarly with the French verb apprendre, which usually means "to learn" but may refer to the action of teaching someone.{{cite book| title=Le Petit Robert, dictionnaire alphabétique et analogique de la langue française |date=2022 |publisher=Dictionnaires Le Robert – SEJER |url=https://dictionnaire.lerobert.com/definition/apprendre |access-date=30 March 2023 |language=fr |chapter=apprendre |quote=I. (sens subjectif) Être avisé, informé de (qqch.). II. (sens objectif) 2. Donner la connaissance, le savoir, la pratique de (qqch.).}} Dutch {{wikt-lang|nl|leren}} and Afrikaans {{wikt-lang|af|leer}}'' can mean "to teach" or "to learn".
• The Indonesian verbs menghiraukan and mengacuhkan can mean "to regard" or "to ignore".
• In Greek some verbs that begine with the prefix "από-" (apo-) can have a contranym meaning. A prominent example is the verb "αποφράζω" means "to plug something, to fill a hole", and it usually used as a medical term, based on the original ancient Greek meaning. The more modern Greek meaning is "to unplug something, remove a blockage". Similar verbs are "απογεμίζω", that can both mean "to fill up to a brim" and "to empty completely" and "απομαθαίνω", that can both mean "to learn something very well" and "to forget something I learned". The meaning that negates the main action, is usually a more modern Greek one. The prefix "apo-" sometimes enhances an action and sometimes negates it.{{Cite web |last=Sarantakos |first=Nikos |date=18 June 2014 |title=Απόφραξη σημαίνει βούλωμα ή ξεβούλωμα; |url=https://sarantakos.wordpress.com/2014/06/18/apofrax/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250521115028/https://sarantakos.wordpress.com/2014/06/18/apofrax/ |archive-date=21 May 2025 |access-date=21 May 2025 |website=Οι λέξεις έχουν τη δική τους ιστορία}}

• {{langx|hi|कल}} and {{langx|ur|کل}} (kal {{IPA|hns|kəl|}}) may mean either "yesterday" or "tomorrow" (disambiguated by the verb in the sentence).
• {{langx|is|fram eftir}} can mean "toward the sea" or "away from the sea" depending on dialect.{{cite web|url=https://islenskordabok.arnastofnun.is/ord/13108|lang=is|title=Íslensk nútímamálsorðabók|publisher=Árnastofnun|access-date=2024-12-05}}
• {{Langx|ga|ar ball}} can mean "a while ago" or "in a little bit/later on"{{cite web|url=https://www.teanglann.ie/ga/fgb/ar_ball|title=Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (Ó Dónaill): ar ball|website=www.teanglann.ie}}

• The Italian, Spanish and French cognates (respectively) ospite, huésped and hôte can mean "host" or "guest". The three words derive from the Latin hospes, which also carries both meanings.

• The Latin sinister {{lit|left}} meant both "auspicious" and "inauspicious", within the respective Roman and Greek traditions of augury.{{cite web|url=http://www.societasviaromana.net/Collegium_Religionis/augury.php|title=On Auguries|author=M. Horatius Piscinus}} The negative meaning was carried on into French and ultimately English.{{cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/sinister#etymonline_v_23561|website=www.etymonline.com|title=sinister (adj.)}}
• Latin {{Wikt-lang|la|nimius}} means "excessive, too much". It maintained this meaning in Spanish {{wikt-lang|es|nimio}}, but it was also misinterpreted as "insignificant, without importance".{{cite book |title=Diccionario de la lengua española |date=2021 |publisher=RAE-ASALE |edition=23 |url=https://dle.rae.es/nimio |access-date=22 April 2022 |language=es |chapter=nimio, nimia}}{{cite web |last=Rubio Hancock|first=Jaime|title=19 autoantónimos: palabras que significan una cosa y la contraria |url=https://verne.elpais.com/verne/2016/08/23/articulo/1471965781_732292.html |website=Verne |publisher=Ediciones El País |access-date=7 May 2023 |language=es |date=28 August 2016}}
• The Indonesian/Malay adjective usah can mean "required" or "discouraged" (disambiguated by the use of tidak or tak "don't").
• In Vietnamese, {{Wikt-lang|vi|minh}} means among other things "bright, clear" (from Sino-Vietnamese {{lang|vi-Hant|明}}) and "dead, gloomy" (from {{lang|vi-Hant|冥}}). Because of this, the name of the dwarf planet Pluto is not adapted from {{Script|Hant|冥王星}} as in Chinese, Japanese and Korean.{{cite web

|first1 = Steve

|last1 = Renshaw

|first2 = Saori

|last2 = Ihara

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|title = A Tribute to Houei Nojiri

|url = http://www2.gol.com/users/stever/nojiri.htm

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}}{{cite web

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}}{{cite web

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|title = Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese

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• Spanish {{wikt-lang|es|dichoso}} meant originally "blissful, fortunate" as in {{lang|es|tierra dichosa}}, "fortunate land". However it developed an ironic and colloquial meaning "bothersome, unlucky", as in {{lang|es|¡Dichosas moscas!}}, "Damned flies!".{{cite book |title=Diccionario de la lengua española |date=2021 |publisher=RAE-ASALE |edition=23 |url=https://dle.rae.es/dichoso |access-date=2023-05-07 |language=es |chapter=dichoso}}

Seeming contronyms can arise from translation. In Hawaiian, 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) in Korean can mean both "hello" and "goodbye" but the central meaning is "peace". The Italian greeting ciao is translated as "hello" or "goodbye" depending on the context; the original meaning was "at your service" (literally "(I'm your) slave").Ronnie Ferguson, A linguistic history of Venice, 2007, {{isbn|882225645X}}, p. 284

• Īhām, ambiguity used as a literary device in Middle Eastern poetry
• -onym, suffix denoting a class of names
• Oxymoron, contradiction used as a figure of speech
• Semantics
• Skunked term, a term that becomes difficult to use because it is evolving from one meaning to another, or is otherwise controversial

{{reflist}}

• Sheidlower, Jesse (1 November 2005). [http://www.slate.com/id/2129105/?nav=tap3 "The Word We Love To Hate"]. Slate.
• Leithauser, Brad (14 October 2013). [http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2013/10/unusable-words.html "Unusable Words"]. The New Yorker.
• Herman, Judith B. (30 May 2014). [https://web.archive.org/web/20140530142820/https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/57032/25-words-are-their-own-opposites "25 Words That Are Their Own Opposites"]. Mental Floss.
• Schulz, Kathryn (7 April 2015). [http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/what-part-of-no-totally-dont-you-understand What Part of "No, Totally" Don't You Understand?]. The New Yorker.

{{wiktionarycat|type=contronyms|category=English contranyms}}

• {{wiktionary-inline|contronym|contranym|autoantonym}}
• {{wiktionary-inline|Appendix:English contranyms|Appendix:English contranyms}}
• Contronyms by language in Wiktionary
• [http://www.fun-with-words.com/nym_autoantonyms.html Autoantonyms page on fun-with-words.com]
• [http://www.lingerandlook.com/Words/Antagonyms.htm List of English examples at LingerAndLook.com]

Category:Semantics

Category:Word play

Category:Types of words

Category:Dichotomies

Category:Ambiguity

Category:Polysemy