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Where does the word "antithesis" come from? It comes from Greek antithesis, and was adopted directly into English (1520s).
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Where does the word "antithesis" come from? It comes from Greek antithesis, and was adopted directly into English (1520s).
Antithesis’s story begins in Greek: antithesis meant “a placing against, opposition.” A placing against, from anti- (against) and tithenai (to place). It reached English by 1520s as antithesis. Settled as the English word for the direct opposite of something. Today, antithesis means a person or thing that is the direct opposite of something else.
- Stage 1 · Greek · ancient antithesis "a placing against, opposition", a placing against, from anti- (against) and tithenai (to place).
- Stage 2 · English · 1520s antithesis "the direct opposite of something", settled as the English word for the direct opposite of something.