Definition/Meaning of contrary

• English - Adjective: contrary ( comparative more contrary , superlative most contrary ) Opposite; in an opposite direction; in opposition; adverse . contrary winds Bible , Leviticus xxvi . 21 And if ye walk contrary unto me , and will not hearken unto me [ … ] Shakespeare We have lost our labour; they are gone a contrary way . Opposed; contradictory; inconsistent . Whewell The doctrine of the earth's motion appeared…
• English - Adverb: contrary ( comparative more contrary , superlative most contrary ) Contrarily
• English - Noun: contrary ( plural contraries ) The opposite . Shakespeare No contraries hold more antipathy / Than I and such a knave . One of a pair of propositions that cannot both be simultaneously true . I . Watts If two universals differ in quality , they are contraries ; as , every vine is a tree; no vine is a tree . These can never be both true together; but they may be both false . Synonyms witherward…
• English - Verb: contrary ( third-person singular simple present contraries , present participle contrarying , simple past and past participle contraried ) ( obsolete ) To oppose; to frustrate . Bishop Latimer I was advised not to contrary the king . 1603 , John Florio , translating Michel de Montaigne , Essays , I .47: The Athenians having left the enemie in their owne land , for to pass into Sicilie , had very…
• English - Etymology: From Middle English contrarie , also contraire , from Old French contraire , from Latin contrarius ( “ opposite , opposed , contrary ” ), from contra ( “ against ” ).