Where does “contrary” come from?

Contrary comes from Middle English contrarie, meaning opposed or opposite in nature or direction.

contrary (English): Opposite; in an opposite direction; in...

Definitions

  1. Opposite; in an opposite direction; in...

Ancestry of “contrary”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishcontrarie—
2Old Frenchcontraire—
3Latincontrariusopposite, opposed, contrary, conflicting,...
4Latincontrāagainst
5Latinubīwhere? in what place?, in which place?
6Latincubī—
7Proto-Italic*kʷuðeiwhere

Words derived from “contrary”

Every word from Proto-Italic *kʷuðei →Every word from Latin cubī →Every word from Latin ubī →