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