Oppose

How to spell oppose

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce oppose

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does oppose mean?

1. verbTo actively resist or be against a person, plan, or idea.

Oppose in a sentence

• Many residents plan to oppose the new motorway through their town.

• The committee will oppose any cut to the research budget.

Where does oppose come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb opponere, which meant 'to set against' or 'to place in the way of'. It was built from the prefix ob-, here meaning 'against', and the verb ponere, 'to put or place', so the literal idea was of putting one thing directly in front of another to block it. The form changed slightly in Late Latin and then passed through Old French as opposer, blending with the French verb poser ('to place'), which is why English ended up with the spelling 'oppose' rather than something closer to the Latin opponere. English adopted it in the fourteenth century with the sense of standing in resistance to someone or something. The same ponere root quietly powers a whole family of relatives such as 'position', 'deposit', 'compose' and 'opponent', and recognising that shared 'pos' element is a handy way to anchor the spelling.

How the word is built

• op- (variant of ob-: against)
• pos (place, put, from Latin ponere)
• -e