| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. |
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
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8. Word Formation: Plurals, Possessives, Affixes, and Compounds
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| § 9. contra- / counter- |
| The prefixes contra- and counter- both derive from the Latin word contra, meaning “against.” Contra- means primarily “against, opposite,” and counter- means “contrary, opposite.” Thus contraposition means “an opposite position,” and countercurrent means “a current flowing in an opposite direction.” | 1 |
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| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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