View source for Contronym

{{short description|Word that has two opposing meanings}}
{{redirect|Enantiodrome|the Jungian principle of equilibrium|Enantiodromia}}
A '''contronym''' or '''contranym''' is a word with two [[Opposite (semantics)|opposite meanings]]. For example, the word ''[[wikt:original|original]]'' can mean "authentic, traditional", or "novel, never done before". This feature is also called '''enantiosemy''',<ref>{{cite book |pages=11,77 |title=[[Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew]] |first=Ghil'ad |last=Zuckermann |author-link=Ghil'ad Zuckermann |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year=2003}}, where "enantiosemy" is mentioned along with "auto-opposite",</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.oup.com/2013/09/simpleton-capsize-kibosh-hobo-bragi-sanction-coleslaw/|title=Etymology gleanings for September 2013|last=Liberman|first=Anatoly|date=25 September 2013|work=Oxford Etymologist|publisher=Oxford University Press|quote=The coexistence of two opposite meanings in a word is called enantiosemy, and the examples are rather numerous.|access-date=25 September 2013}}</ref> '''enantionymy''' (''[[wikt:enantio-#Prefix|enantio-]]'' means "opposite"), '''antilogy''' or '''autoantonymy'''. An enantiosemic term is by definition [[polysemy|polysemic]] (having more than one meaning).

== Nomenclature ==
A contronym is alternatively called an ''autantonym'', ''auto-antonym'', ''antagonym'',<ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster| contronym |accessdate=2024-07-22}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{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}}</ref> ''enantiodrome'', ''enantionym'', ''Janus word'' (after the Roman god [[Janus]], who is usually depicted with two faces),<ref name=":2"/> ''self-antonym'', ''antilogy'', or ''addad'' (Arabic, singular ''didd'').<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Gall|first=Nick|title=Antagonyms|url=http://ironick.typepad.com/ironick/2003/11/antagonyms.html|access-date=2 August 2011}}</ref>

== Linguistic mechanisms ==
[[Denotation]]s and [[connotation]]s of words can drift or branch over centuries. An [[apocrypha]]l story relates how [[Charles II of Great Britain|Charles II]] (or sometimes [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Queen Anne]]) described [[St Paul's Cathedral]] (using contemporaneous English) as "{{lang|en-emodeng|amusing, awful, and artificial}}", with the meaning (rendered in modern English) of "amazing, awe-inspiring, and artistic."<ref>{{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}}</ref>

== Examples ==
<!-- Please keep this in alphabetical order -->
<!-- This is not a list article. Provide a reliable source or get consensus for new entries. See [[WP:EXAMPLEFARM]]. -->
=== English ===
{{Wiktionary category|category=English contranyms|type=contronyms in English}}
* ''Cleave'' can mean "to cling" or "to split apart".<ref name=":2"/><ref name=":0">{{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}}</ref>
* ''Clip'' can mean "attach" or "cut off".<ref name=":2" /> 
* ''Drop'' can mean "release or make available" (e.g., a music record) or "abandon or discontinue".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-21 |title=Definition of DROP |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drop |access-date=2025-10-27 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}</ref> 
* ''Dust'' can mean "to remove dust" (cleaning a house) or "to add dust" (e.g., to dust a cake with powdered sugar).<ref name=":2"/><ref name=":0" /> This contradiction features in the children's book ''[[Amelia Bedelia (book)|Amelia Bedelia]]''.<ref name="book">[https://lccn.loc.gov/63014367 "Amelia Bedelia"]. LC Online Catalog. Library of Congress (lccn.loc.gov). Retrieved 2016-02-18.</ref>
* ''Fast'' can mean "without moving; fixed in place", (holding fast, also as in "steadfast"), or "moving quickly".<ref name=":2"/><ref name=":0" />
* ''[[Obbligato]]'' in music traditionally means a passage is "obligatory" but has also been used to mean "optional".<ref>"Obbligato" in ''Lectionary of Music'', [[Nicolas Slonimsky]]. McGraw-Hill {{ISBN|0-07-058222-X}}</ref><ref>"Obbligato" in ''Collins Music Encyclopedia'', Westrup & Harrison: Collins, London, 1959</ref>
* ''Overlook'' can mean "to make an accidental omission or error" or "to engage in close scrutiny or control".<ref>{{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}}</ref>
* ''Oversight'' can mean "accidental omission or error" or "close scrutiny or control".<ref>{{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}}</ref>
* ''Peruse'' can mean to "consider with attention and in detail" or "look over or through in a casual or cursory manner".<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>
* ''Ravel'' can mean "to separate" (e.g., threads in cloth) or "to entangle".<ref>{{cite book |title=The Canadian Oxford dictionary |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195418163 |page=1283 |edition=2nd |quote=entangle...disentangle, unravel}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/when-un-isnt-negative|title='Un-': You Don't Always Have to Be So Negative|website=www.merriam-webster.com}}</ref>
* ''Sanction'' can mean "to give approval" or "to impose a penalty upon".<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 November 2025 |title=Definition of SANCTION |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sanction |access-date=1 November 2025 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}</ref>
* ''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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
<!-- THIS IS NOT A LIST ARTICLE. Provide a reliable source or get consensus for new entries. See WP:EXAMPLEFARM]]. -->

=== Other languages ===
====Verbs====
* The [[Romanian language|Romanian]] verb ''a închiria'', the [[French language|French]] verb ''louer'', the [[Afrikaans Language|Afrikaans]] verb ''[[wikt:huur|huur]]'', the Finnish verb ''vuokrata''<ref>{{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 }}</ref> and the Spanish {{lang|es|alquilar}}<ref name="Verne" /> and {{lang|es|arrendar}}<ref name="Prieto">{{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}}</ref> mean "to rent" (as the [[wikt:lessee#English|lessee]] does) as well as "to let" (as the [[wikt:lessor#English|lessor]] does). The [[English language| English]] verb ''{{wikt-lang|en|rent}}'' can also describe either the lessee's or the lessor's role.
* 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.<ref name="DRAE dar">{{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.}}</ref> Similarly with the [[French language|French]] verb ''[[wikt:apprendre|apprendre]]'', which usually means "to learn" but may refer to the action of teaching someone.<ref name="DRAE apprendre">{{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.).}}</ref> Dutch {{wikt-lang|nl|leren}} and [[Afrikaans language|Afrikaans]] {{wikt-lang|af|leer}}'' can mean "to teach" or "to learn".
* In [[Greek language|Greek]] some verbs that begin with the prefix "''από-''"  ''(apo-'') can have a contranym meaning. A prominent example is the verb "''[[wikt:αποφράζω|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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

====Adverbs====
* {{langx|is|fram eftir}} can mean "toward the sea" or "away from the sea" depending on dialect.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://islenskordabok.arnastofnun.is/ord/13108|lang=is|title=Íslensk nútímamálsorðabók|publisher=Árnastofnun|access-date=2024-12-05}}</ref>
* {{Langx|ga|ar ball}} can mean "a while ago" or "in a little bit/later on"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.teanglann.ie/ga/fgb/ar_ball|title=Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (Ó Dónaill): ar ball|website=www.teanglann.ie}}</ref>

====Adjectives====
*The [[Latin]] ''[[wikt:sinister#Latin|sinister]]'' {{lit|left}} meant both "auspicious" and "inauspicious", within the respective Roman and Greek traditions of [[augury]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.societasviaromana.net/Collegium_Religionis/augury.php|title=On Auguries|author=M. Horatius Piscinus}}</ref> The negative meaning was carried on into French and ultimately English.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/sinister#etymonline_v_23561|website=www.etymonline.com|title=sinister (adj.)}}</ref>
*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".<ref name="RAE nimio">{{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}}</ref><ref name="Verne">{{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}}</ref>
*In [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]], {{Wikt-lang|vi|minh}} means among other things "bright, clear" (from [[Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary|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.<ref name="RenshawIhara2000">{{cite web
 |first1      = Steve
 |last1       = Renshaw
 |first2      = Saori
 |last2       = Ihara
 |date        = 2000
 |title       = A Tribute to Houei Nojiri
 |url         = http://www2.gol.com/users/stever/nojiri.htm
 |access-date  = November 29, 2011
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://archive.today/20121206025620/http://www2.gol.com/users/stever/nojiri.htm
 |archive-date = December 6, 2012
 |df          = mdy-all
}}</ref><ref name="nineplan">{{cite web
| title = Planetary Linguistics
| url = http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/days.html
| access-date = June 12, 2007
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071217070734/http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/days.html
| archive-date = December 17, 2007
| url-status=dead
}}</ref><ref name="Bathrobe">{{cite web
 |author      = Bathrobe
 |title       = Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese
 |work        = cjvlang.com
 |url         = http://www.cjvlang.com/Dow/UrNepPl.html
 |access-date  = November 29, 2011
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110720140817/http://www.cjvlang.com/Dow/UrNepPl.html
 |archive-date = July 20, 2011
 |df          = mdy-all
}}</ref>
*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!".<ref name="RAE dichoso">{{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}}</ref>

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

== See also ==
* [[X mark]], which can either be synonymous or antonymous with a [[check mark]] in various contexts
* [[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

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* [[Jesse Sheidlower|Sheidlower, Jesse]] (1 November 2005). [http://www.slate.com/id/2129105/?nav=tap3 "The Word We Love To Hate"]. ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]''.
* [[Brad Leithauser|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]]''. 
* [[Kathryn Schulz|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''.

== External links ==
{{wiktionarycat|type=contronyms|category=English contranyms}}
* {{wiktionary-inline|contronym|contranym|autoantonym}}
* {{wiktionary-inline|Appendix:English contranyms|Appendix:English contranyms}}
* [[wiktionary:Category:Contranyms_by_language|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]]