contrast
English
Etymology
From French contraster, from Italian contrastare (“to resist", "to withstand”), from Vulgar Latin *contrāstāre, from Latin contrā (“against”) + stō, stāre (“to stand”).
Pronunciation
- (noun)
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈkɒntɹɑːst/
- (US) enPR: kŏn'trăst, IPA(key): /ˈkɑnt(ʃ)ɹæst/
Audio (US) (file)
- (verb)
- (UK) IPA(key): /kənˈtɹɑːst/
Audio (UK) (file)
- (US) enPR: kəntrăst', kŏn'trăst, IPA(key): /kənˈt(ʃ)ɹæst/, /ˈkɑnt(ʃ)ɹæst/
- (UK) IPA(key): /kənˈtɹɑːst/
- Rhymes: -ɑːst
Noun
contrast (countable and uncountable, plural contrasts)
- (countable) A difference in lightness, brightness and/or hue between two colours that makes them more or less distinguishable.
- (uncountable) The degree of this difference.
- The red and the orange don't have much contrast between them — I can hardly tell them apart.
- (countable) A control on a television, etc, that adjusts the amount of contrast in the images being displayed.
- (uncountable) The degree of this difference.
- (countable) A difference between two objects, people or concepts.
- Israel is a country of many contrasts.
- 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter I, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 731476803:
- The colonel and his sponsor made a queer contrast: Greystone [the sponsor] long and stringy, with a face that seemed as if a cold wind was eternally playing on it.
- 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 11:
- ... there is no quality in this world that is not what it is merely by contrast.
- (countable) Something that is opposite of or strikingly different from something else.
- 2001, David L. Lieber; Jules Harlow, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, page 746:
- Why this denunciation of idolatry at this point? And why are Shabbat and the sanctuary mentioned as contrasts to idol worship?
-
- (countable, uncountable, rhetoric) Antithesis.
Derived terms
- contrast agent
- contrast medium
- contrast radiography
- contrast ratio
- contrast set
- contrast therapy
- in contrast
- metacontrast
- noncontrast
- paracontrast
- phase contrast microscope
- phase contrast microscopy
- reverse contrast
Translations
difference that makes colours more or less distinguishable
|
degree of this difference
|
difference between two objects, people or concepts
|
control on a television, etc
|
Verb
contrast (third-person singular simple present contrasts, present participle contrasting, simple past and past participle contrasted)
- (transitive) To set in opposition in order to show the difference or differences between.
- (intransitive) To form a contrast.
- Foreground and background strongly contrast.
- 1845, Charles Lyell, Lyell's Travels in North America
- The joints which divide the sandstone contrast finely with the divisional planes which separate the basalt into pillars.
Antonyms
- (to show difference): liken
Derived terms
- compare and contrast
- contrasting
- contrastive
Translations
to set in opposition in order to show the difference or differences between
|
to form a contrast
|
See also
- compare
Catalan
Etymology
From contrastar, attested from the 14th century.[1]
Pronunciation
- (Balearic, Valencian) IPA(key): /konˈtɾast/
- (Central) IPA(key): /kunˈtɾast/
Noun
contrast m (plural contrasts or contrastos)
- contrast
References
- “contrast”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
Further reading
- “contrast” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “contrast” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “contrast” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Dutch
Etymology
Borrowed from French contraste, from Middle French contraste, from Italian contrasto.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kɔnˈtrɑst/
- Hyphenation: con‧trast
- Rhymes: -ɑst
Noun
contrast n (plural contrasten, diminutive contrastje n)
- A contrast.
- Synonym: tegenstelling
Related terms
- contrasteren
Romanian
Etymology
From French contraste.
Noun
contrast n (plural contraste)
- contrast
Declension
Declension of contrast
singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
nominative/accusative | (un) contrast | contrastul | (niște) contraste | contrastele |
genitive/dative | (unui) contrast | contrastului | (unor) contraste | contrastelor |
vocative | contrastule | contrastelor |