Main Entry: an·tith·e·sis

Pronunciation: \an-ˈti-thə-səs\

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural an·tith·e·ses \-ˌsēz\

Etymology: Late Latin, from Greek, literally, opposition, from antitithenai to oppose, from anti- + tithenai to set — more at do

Date: 1529

1 a (1) : the rhetorical contrast of ideas by means of parallel arrangements of words, clauses, or sentences (as in “action, not words” or “they promised freedom and provided slavery”) (2) : opposition, contrast <the antithesis of prose and verse> b (1) : the second of two opposing constituents of an antithesis (2) : the direct opposite <her temperament is the very antithesis of mine>
2 : the second stage of a dialectic process