Against
prepositionIn opposition to, or in contact with, something or someone.
How to spell against
7 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce against
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does against mean?
- prepositionIn opposition to, or in contact with, something or someone.
Against in a sentence
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The whole committee voted against the proposal.
-
She leaned the ladder against the garden wall.
Where does against come from?
Language of origin: Germanic
This word grew out of the Old English ongēan, which meant 'opposite to', 'back', or 'toward', built from the prefix on- and gēan meaning 'direct' or 'straight'. In Middle English it appeared as agen or ayen, and a final -t was tacked on during the 1300s, an 'excrescent' consonant that crept in by analogy with words such as amongst, whilst, and betwixt. The -st never reflected the original sound; it was simply a habit of medieval spelling and pronunciation that stuck. The same gēan root still sits quietly inside the everyday word 'again', which is why against and again look like close cousins on the page. For the modern speller the trap is exactly that silent, history-driven -st ending and the unstressed middle vowel, which sounds like a faint 'uh' rather than the 'ai' the spelling suggests.
How the word is built
- again (Old English ongēan: opposite, back)
- -st (excrescent ending added by analogy with words like amongst, whilst)
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