| 释义 |
▪ I. contrary, a., n., adv. (prep.)|ˈkɒntrərɪ|
Also 3–6 contrarye, 4–5 contrayri(e, 4–7 contrarie.
[app. a. early OF. (retained in Anglo-Fr.) conˈtrarie, ad. L. contrāri-us opposite, hostile, etc., f. contrā against: cf. adversary and see -ary. The later OF. form contraire gave the variant contrair, long retained in the north. The original stress, after F. and L., was conˈtrarie, but the poets, from Chaucer to Spenser and Shakespeare, use both conˈtrary and ˈcontrary (the latter the more frequent in Shakes.); of conˈtrāry, many instances occur in 17th c. verse; it is the only pronunciation recognized by Bailey (died 1742), and it is still app. universal in dialect and uneducated speech, esp. in sense 3 b, which is now confined to these forms of speech and to the nursery. ˈContrary was used by Milton and Pope, and is given by Johnson (though he retained conˈtrarily, conˈtrariness, conˈtrariwise) and in all later dictionaries.
Walker, 1791, says ‘The accent is invariably placed on the first syllable by all correct speakers, and as constantly removed to the second by the illiterate and vulgar’: where the words ‘placed on’ and ‘removed to’ should change places, but the usage described is that of the present day. Sometimes, however, dialectally, the n. is made ˈcontrary, while the adj. remains conˈtrary.]
A. adj.
1. a. Opposed in nature or tendency; diametrically different, extremely unlike. Const. to; often with sense: Repugnant, antagonistic.
c1340Hampole Prose Tr. 13 Blendid with na thynge þat es contrayrie thareto. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 362 [This] is contrarie to love of Crist. 1485Caxton Paris & V. (1868) 11 Other..helde contrarye oppynyon. 1535Coverdale Job xxi. 34 Are not youre answeres cleane contrary to right and treuth? 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 60 b, Among all other hearbes, only the Onyon is not subject to the force of the moone, but hath a contrarie power. a1628Preston New Covt. (1634) 450 Now you know, life is contrary to death. 1722Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. Pref. 7 Fighting, they have always counted..contrary to the doctrine of our Saviour. 1886Morley France in 18th C. Crit. Misc. III. 266 M. Taine goes to the contrary extreme.
†b. Former const. of, from, than, against, with.
a1450Knt. de la Tour 3 The manere contrarie of goodness. c1530Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814) 385 Al suche..that be contrary ayenst your mynde. 1531Tindale Exp. (1849) 182 They..disguise themselves..to signify ever a contrary thing than that they be. 1556J. Olde Antichrist 106 A farre contrary penaunce from this. 1659Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 450 This is a council directly contrary from a council of war. 1665Boyle Occas. Refl. (1669) 273 Architects have, indeed, made themselves a name, but upon a quite contrary account than they intended or expected. 1761F. Sheridan S. Bidulph II. 92 Producing the direct contrary effect from what I intended.
c. Opposite to each other; mutually opposed.
1413Lydg. Pilgr. Sowle iv. xxxviii. (1859) 67 Worship and couetyse acordeth not to geders, but they ben euen contrary. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxv. §12 Contrary diseases should always have contrary remedies. 1711Addison Spect. No. 125 ⁋5 Two contrary Characters, as opposite to one another as Light and Darkness.
†d. in weaker sense: Different, other. Obs.
1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 253 There is also some advauntage..to write that downe..in wordes of a contrarie tongue. 1599Thynne Animadv. (1865) 19 He came of a contrarye howse to the Gowers of Stytenhame. 1696J. F. Merchant's Ware-ho. 23 The other sort is under yard wide, and by reason of its contrary bredth is of little use.
2. a. The opposite, the opposed, the other (of two things).
c1340Hampole Prose Tr. 24 On the contrary wise who so hatith gret rewarde, etc. 1581J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 450 b, These Catholickes on the contrary side doe cry out..that he is an Heretique. 1590Spenser F.Q. iii. i. 47 All ignorant of her contrary sex. 1611Bible Titus ii. 8 That hee that is of the contrarie part, may bee ashamed. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 146 The King weares the contrary side of his Tulipant forwards. 1875E. White Life in Christ v. xxviii. (1878) 479 As to the absolute ‘fewness’..this is an invention of the contrary part.
†b. Opposite to the proper or right one; ‘the wrong’. Obs. rare.
1595Shakes. John iv. ii. 198 Slippers, which his nimble haste Had falsely thrust vpon contrary feete. 1596― Merch. V. i. ii. 105 Set a deepe glasse of Reinish-wine on the contrary Casket.
†3.
a. Of persons and their actions: Actively opposed, antagonistic, hostile. Obs. exc. as in b.
c1340Cursor M. 14461 (Trin.) Þei were ful of enuye To god & mon myche contrarye. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 1045 Na man may serve rightly Twa lordes to-gedir, þat er contrary. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1356 Dido, Syn that the goddes been contrarye to me. 1535Coverdale Ps. cviii. (ix.) 3 For the loue that I had vnto them, they take now my contrary parte [= they take part against me]. 1551Robinson tr. More's Utop. ii. (Arb.) 137 They be hyered of contrarye prynces for a lytle moneye. 1598Yong Diana 53, I maruell Delia, who hath mooued thee to be so contrarie to her. 1623Bingham Xenophon 3 The King, as soone as he heard..of the Armie that Cyrus had raised, made contrarie preparation. 1662J. Bargrave Pope Alex. VII (1867) 38 In despite of the Spaniards, to whom he was much contrary.
b. Of antagonistic or untoward disposition, perverse, obstinately self-willed; contrarious. (Commonly pronounced conˈtrāry.) colloq. and dial.
Nursery Rime. Mary, Mary, quite contrary, How does your garden grow? 1850Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. vii, ‘Gals is nat'lly made contrary; and so, if you thinks they've gone one road, it is sartin you'd better go t'other.’ 1875Parish Sussex Dial. s.v., ‘She'd be just as contrairy as ever was a hog.’ 1888Berkshire Gloss. s.v., ‘A turned contraayry an' 'oodn't lend his herse.’ 1920Rose Macaulay Potterism i. i. §4 They were like that; conceited and contrary.
†4.
a. Of things: Opposed to one's well-being or interests; calculated to thwart or harm; prejudicial, unfavourable, untoward. Obs. exc. as in b.
c1477Caxton Jason 41 Thinges contrarye to their helthe and lyf. a1533Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. (1546) R v b, The ayre of the lande was contrary to hym. 1655–60Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 179/2 The estimation of mean things is contrary to a Man who intended to contemplate the truth of things. 1656Ridgley Pract. Physick 4 By reason of a contrary temper of the bowels. 1712J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 210 You should choose a warm, dry Season, for working Basons of Ciment, the Rain being very contrary to it. 1737Whiston Josephus' Antiq. xv. vii. §7 The remedies..did him no good..but proved contrary to his case.
b. esp. of wind, weather, etc. (Here there is contact with sense 5.)
1382Wyclif Matt. xiv. 24 The wynd was contrarie. 1605Camden Rem. 165 Repelled with contrarie winds. 1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. i. 14 Contrary winds..put us to the northward. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 430 When the vessel is detained by contrary winds.
†c. Distasteful. Obs. rare.
1561Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 30 a, All swete meates are contrarye to hym.
5. a. Opposite in position or direction; situated on the other side; moving the other way.
1382Wyclif 1 Macc. iv. 12 And sawen hem cummynge of the contrarie part, or euen aȝein. 1483Cath. Angl. 75 Contra[r]y, contrarius loco. 1553Eden Treat. Newe Ind. Ep. to Rdr., Antipodes..walke wyth theyr fete dyrectelye contrarye agaynst oures. 1571Digges Pantom. ii. ix. N j, Drawing lines from one angle to the contrarie. 1605Bp. Hall Medit. & Vows i. §89 Wayes..either crosse or contrary. 1614Markham Cheap Husb. i. ii. (1668) 16 Give him [the colt] a sound lash..over the contrary shoulder. 1678Hobbes Decam. iv. 34 The stream of the Air shall be the contrary way. 1774Goldsm. Grecian Hist. I. 297 By a quite contrary way from that in which they then marched. 1874Boutell Arms & Arm ix. 178 The hilt has its cross-guard bent with a contrary curvature.
b. Mus. (See quot.)
1731G. Keller's Thorow-Bass in Holder Treat. Harmony 161 Sometimes used in contrary Motion. 1875Ouseley Harmony i. 11 Contrary motion is when two parts, or voices, move in opposite directions.
c. Bot. At right angles.
d. Math. point of contrary flexure: see quot.
1796Hutton Math. Dict. I. 636 Point of Inflection, or of contrary flexure, in a curve, is the point..where it begins to bend or turn a contrary way..or where the curve changes from concave to convex, or from convex to concave.
6. Logic (from sense 1). contrary propositions: those most opposed to each other as regards affirmation and negation, each denying every possible case of the other, as All A is B: No A is B; both propositions cannot be true, but both may be false. contrary terms: those which are extreme opposites within the same class, as black and white. contrary opposition: the opposition of contrary propositions and terms.
1739Hume Treat. Hum. Nat. i. v. 1874 I. 323 No two ideas are in themselves contrary, except those of existence and non-existence. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp., Contrary propositions..one of which affirms, and the other denies, the same predicate of the same subject. 1828Whately Rhet. in Encycl. Metrop. 253/1 Two things are called ‘Contrary’, which, coming under the same class, are the most dissimilar in that class. 1849Abp. Thomson Laws Th. (1860) 150 Contrary opposition exists between affirmative and negative judgments which cannot be true together, but which may be false together. 1887Fowler Deduct. Logic 83 ‘Contrary terms’, like good and bad, black and white.
7. Comb. (parasynthetic), as contrary-minded a., of the contrary opinion; contrary-to-fact a., counter-factual; untrue.
a1555Latimer Serm. & Rem. (1845) 183 The most part of gospellers are contrary-minded. 1661Papers on Alter. Prayer Bk. 13 The contrary-minded doubt whether with it he be lawfully served. 1912Mind XXI. 524 Perhaps we cannot ever be certain of the possibility of such a contrary-to-fact condition. 1946Ibid. LV. 289 (heading) The contrary-to-fact conditional.
B. n. [the adj. used absol.]
1. a. absol. the contrary: the exact opposite or reverse of what has previously been mentioned.
(Sometimes used in taking the vote of those in a meeting who are opposed to the motion proposed, the chairman asking for the negative vote by the words the contrary, on the contrary, or to the contrary.)
c1250Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 30 Þu hest ido þe contrarie. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 396 Ac her werkes..was euere þe contrarye. c1384Chaucer H. Fame ii. 300 Bid hym proven the contrarye. c1400Destr. Troy 9715 What puttes you in plite..To enclyne to þe contrary? 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 89, I thought thus..albeit the contrarie chaunced. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. v. i. 15 Clo. The better for my foes, and the worse for my friends. Du. Iust the contrary: the better for thy friends. 1754Richardson Grandison II. iv. 34 Which..I had no command to take down; but the contrary. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 482 Is not this the direct contrary of what was admitted before.
b. phr. on the contrary (formerly by, for, in, of, to the contrary, in contrary): on the other hand, in contradistinction.
1393Gower Conf. I. 360 And in contrarie also recouer A pouer man to grete richesse. c1400Mandeville (1839) xi. 131 In the contrarye, toward the Southe, it is so hoot, that, etc. 1502Ord. Cyrsten Men (W. de W. 1506) i. vii. 79 And by the contrarye the bodyes of them that ben blessed they shall, etc. 1541R. Copland Galyen's Terapeutyke 2 E iv, To the contrarye, where they haue estemed that it shulde be superflue to recyte, they haue, etc. c1554Gracious Menewe D vij b, But when on y⊇ contrarie they do, etc. 1557North tr. Gueuara's Diall. Pr. 71 b/1 And for the contrary, there are other princes, etc. 1597Morley Introd. Mus. Pref., This booke will be so farre from the hinderance of anie, that by the contrarie, it will cause, etc. 1653Cloria & Narcissus I. 253 Of the contrary, Philos..began, etc. 1796Jane Austen Pride & Prej. xxvi, Nothing, on the contrary, could be more natural.
c. phr. to († in) the contrary: to the opposite effect; in opposition to, or reversal of, what is stated.
1512Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 10 Any acte..heretofore made to the contrary notwithstondyng. 1560–78Bk. Discipl. (1621) 5 [7] Nothing alledged in the contrarie. 1595Shakes. John iii. i. 10, I haue a Kings oath to the contrarie. 1850McCosh Div. Govt. iv. ii. (1874) 513 Whatever the gloomy and disappointed may say to the contrary.
†2.
a. Opposite position or side. in contrary of: opposite to. Obs.
c1325E.E. Allit. P. B. 1532 In contrary of þe candelstik..Þer apered a paume. 1611Shakes. Wint. T. i. ii. 372 Wafting his eyes to th' contrary.
†b. That which is opposite in position. Obs.
c1400Mandeville (1839) xvii. 180 Men seen another Sterre, the contrarie to him..that is clept Antartyk.
3. a. An object, fact, or quality that is the very opposite of something else; often in pl. things the most different of their class.
c1386Chaucer Melib. ⁋323 For good and wikkednesse ben tuo contraries. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vii. iii. (1495) 224 We hele contraryes wyth contraryes. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 183 b, One contrary set nere another contrary is more apparent. 1605Shakes. Lear ii. ii. 93 No contraries hold more antipathy, Than I and such a knave. 1656Cowley Pindar. Odes, To Mr. Hobs vi, So Contraries on ætna's top conspire, Here hoary Frosts, and by them breaks out Fire. 1658Whole Duty Man vi. §13. 56 The second contrary to humility I told you was vain-glory. 1715J. Richardson Th. Paint. 190 Where the two Contraries, the Masculine and Feminine Beauties are oppos'd. 1847Emerson Poems, Initial Love Wks. (Bohn) I. 458 Swifter-fashioned than the fairies, Substance mixed of pure contraries.
b. With possessive pron. his, its, etc. contrary.
1340Ayenb. 14 Þis article yefþ to onderstonde his contrarie. c1540Pilgrim's T. 288 in Thynne Animadv. App. i. (1865) 85 But fyrst or I can bring mi purpos, I must his contrary disclos. 1598–9E. Forde Parismus i. (1661) 24 Who as far excelled all the rest..as the sun does the moon or white his contrary. 1711F. Fuller Med. Gymn. 88 Mixing it with its contrary. 1841Myers Cath. Th. iv. xii. 248 Changing an attribute into its contrary.
c. phr. by contraries: by way of opposition, by direct contrast; also, in the way just opposite to what might have been expected. So by rule (reason, argument) of contraries.
1545R. Ascham Toxoph. (Arb.) 45 Medicines stande by contraries. 1605Bacon Adv. Learn. i. viii. §3 So by argument of contraries, the just and lawfull soveraignetie..is that which approacheth neerest to..the divine rule. 1610Shakes. Temp. ii. i. 147 I'th'Commonwealth I vvould (by contraries) Execute all things. a1675Lightfoot in Rem. (1700) 141 The first proof of this is by the rule of contraries. 1828Blackw. Mag. Jan. 115 Thochts gang by the rule o' contrairies.
d. Paper-making. A foreign body or any substance which resists the pulping or re-pulping process. Usu. pl.
1926G. & R. H. Clapperton Pract. Paper-Making (ed. 3) ii. 10 The rags..are usually overlooked again..to ensure the further removal of contraries and buttons. 1961B.S.I. News Jan. 17/1 Which materials are contraries? A few examples are: metal foils, waxes, vegetable parchment, plastics and cellulose fillers... Other contraries (known as ‘pernicious contraries’) make re-pulping impossible. 1961Printing News 23 Mar. 3/5 If the growing proportion of pernicious contraries in waste paper is not offset by accurate methods of segregation. 1963Times 30 Apr. 5/3 Waste paper..might contain ‘contraries’, which was the trade name for obviously undesirable matter.
4. Opposition, hostility; an act of hostility. in their contrary; in opposition to them. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Melib. ⁋314 Þat right as þay han do me a contrarie, right so schold I do hem anoþer. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cxlvi. 174 They of Calays hathe done hym suche contraryes and dispyghtes. c1565Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (1728) 5 Archibald, earl of Douglas would concur with the chancellor in their contrary.
†5. A denial, an opposing statement. Obs.
1555in Strype Eccl. Mem. III. App. xliii. 119 Faith without deeds is dead, etc. Here are contraries to the carnal man. c1555Harpsfield Divorce Hen. VIII (1878) 80 To perfect and finish our answer..we make a direct contrary to them. 1833Mrs. Browning Prometh. Bound Poems 1850 I. 176, I will set No contrary against it.
†6. An adversary, opponent, enemy. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1001 Whethir he or thou May with his hundred..Sle his contrary. c1430tr. T. à Kempis 142 Þou art manly ynow, all þe wile no contrarie comeþ ayenst þe. 1549Hooper Declar. Ten Commandm. viii. Wks. (Parker Soc.) 356 A strange nation, thy contraries and thy mortal enemies. 1622R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea (1847) 195 Our contraries..determined..to lay us abourd.
7. Logic. A contrary term or proposition; see A. 6.
1655–60Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 175/2 This kind of Induction by Contraries, serves not for assertion, but confutation. 1828Whately in Encycl. Metrop. 253/1 Virtue and vice are called Contraries, as being, both, ‘moral habits,’ and the most dissimilar of moral habits. 1864Bowen Logic vi. 162 Opposition..was first applied only to the relations between two Contraries.
†8. In various elliptical uses, where the n. may be understood from the context. Obs.
1532Dice-Play (Percy Soc.) 30 If ye lack contraries [= rival loaded dice] to crosbite him withall. 1590Shakes. Com. Err. iv. iv. 82 Is't good to sooth him in these contraries?
C. adv.
1. In opposition or antagonism; contrarily, contrariwise (to).
1463Bury Wills (1850) 40 Remevyd..contrarye ageyn my wil. 1495Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 57 Preamb., That that he hath doon..contrary to the duetie of his aliegeaunce. 1611Bible Lev. xxvi. 23–4 And if ye will..walke contrary vnto me: Then will I also walke contrary vnto you. 1616S. Ward Coale fr. Altar (1627) 71 Contrary with the Prophet, they cry out, My fatnesse, my fatnesse. 1779–81Johnson L.P., Savage Wks. 1816 X. 282 The crime of writing contrary to what he thought. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 364 Those..act contrary to nature.
2. Adversely to one's well-being or wishes.
1497Bp. Alcock Mons Perfect. C iij, The deuyll tempted hym sore contrary. 1548Hall Chron. 152 Which thynges hapned all contrary by the destruccion of this good man. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. ii. 64 What storme is this that blowes so contrarie? 1840Marryat Poor Jack xlvi, And cruel was the fair wind as wouldn't blow contrary. 1886Jerome Idle Thoughts (ed. 58) 63 Things do go so contrary like with me.
3. On the other hand, on the contrary. arch.
1549–62Sternhold & H. Ps. xxxvii. 17 God will it overthrow: Where contrary he doth preserve the humble men and low. 1599Thynne Animadv. (1865) 19 But quite contrarye, Chaucer dothe submytte the correctione of his woorkes to Gower, etc. 1652Culpepper Eng. Physic. (1809) 276 The seed thereof contrary doth bind the belly. 1835Browning Paracelsus i. 28 While, contrary, it has chanced, some idle day..gives birth at last To truth.
4. In an opposite or very different way; in Her. with the reverse effect; = counter. (See 6.)
1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, v. v. 4 Would'st thou turne our offers contrary? 1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 215 For contrary to..Ivory Turners, they always dip the end of their Hook below the Rest. Ibid. 282 You must begin the two sides contrary.
†5. In the opposite direction (to). Obs.
1613W. Browne Brit. Past. ii. v, To steere his boate contrary to the Sun. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 182 Towards Goa, we steering contrary.
6. Comb., as contrary-posed (sense 4).
1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 341/1 The Crest..is..two Mill-stones, one contrary-posed to the other.
†D. prep. Against, contrary to. Obs.
c1430Lydg. Minor Poems (1840) 76 The world unsure, contrary al stablenesse, Whos joy is meynt ay withe adversite. c1536in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. III. 44 Whiche was contrarie my mynde.
▪ II. † contrary, v. Obs. or dial.
Also 4–5 contrarie(n, 4–6 contrarye.
[a. F. contrari-er (11th c. in Littré), ad. late L. contrāriāre, f. contrārius contrary a. cf. contrariate.]
I. trans.
1. To oppose, strive against, thwart.
1375Barbour Bruce ix. 470 He the king contraryit ay. c1430tr. T. à Kempis 138 Þe lawe of synne contrarieng þe lawe of my mynde. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 98/4 Ye contrarye alleway the holy goost. 1586J. Hooker Girald. Irel. in Holinshed II. 143/2 The more noble were his good and worthie attempts, the more he was crossed and contraried. a1649Drummond of Hawthornden Hist. Jas. V Wks. (1711) 103 The winds contrarying his course. 1653H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxii. 78 Whosoever shall contrary me therein I must take him for mine enemy.
b. To impugn.
1586A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 41 Any one thing was never found contrarying, blemishing, or..impugning his honour. 1633J. Done Hist. Septuagint 217 And if they could have contraried him for any falsity.
2. To contradict, gainsay, to speak, write, or argue against:
a. a person.
1382Wyclif Ruth i. 16 Ne contrarye thou me, that y forsake thee. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xv. 100 How þow contrariedest cleregie with crabbede wordes. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 276 Redy to breke sylence, & apte to contrary theyr prelates or heddes in euery mater. 1690W. Walker Idiomat. Anglo-Lat. 115 Do not you contrary me.
b. what is said, enjoined, etc.
c1386Chaucer Wife's T. 188 Ne was ther wyf, ne mayde..that contraried that he sayde. 1581Mulcaster Positions xxx. (1887) 110 It is graunted by the best though contraried by some of the soryest Physicians. 1656Sanderson Serm. (1689) 242 The Devilishness of the Doctrine in contrarying the Ordinance of God. 1808W. B. Hewetson Blind Boy i. i, I see nothing to contrary it.
3. To do what is contrary to or the reverse of.
1581Marbeck Bk. of Notes 763 They contraried the Jewes, in that they confessed Jesus to be the sonne of God. 1586A. Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 65 If I should not owe unto you all honest..fidelity, I should much contrary your great curtesie. 1594Mirr. Policy (1599) H, Who so contrarieth his sex [as Sardanapalus], ought to die as he did. 1659B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 158 She contraried their proceedings: For, they would have war..and she declares her desire of Peace.
II. intr.
4. To act in opposition, be opposed (to); to act inconsistently.
c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 341 Ȝif þis pope contrarieþ to Cristis lyf. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xi. 244 Kynde folweþ kynde and contrarieþ neuere. c1450Merlin vii. 112 He sholde be kynge..who-so-euer ther-to wolde contrarye. 1581Mulcaster Positions iv. (1887) 17 He would haue him learne with such a man: some cause contrarieth.
b. To act perversely, be cantankerous; ‘to grumble’ (Skeat).
1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xx. 320 Þei han cause to contrarien by kynde of here syknesse.
5. To speak or write in opposition; to maintain an opposite opinion; to argue, debate.
1393Langl. P. Pl. C. i. 59 For couetise of copes contrariede som doctors. 1477Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 139 To contrarye and argue with a foole. 1552Latimer Serm. Lord's Prayer v. Wks. II. 93 The very school doctors..never contraried in that.
6. a. To be (self-) contradictory. b. To change to the opposite, be reversed. rare.
c1374Chaucer Boeth. v. iii. 154 It semeþ to repugnen and to contrarien gretly þat god knoweþ byforn alle þinges, and þat þer is any fredom of liberte. 1375Barbour Bruce iii. 271 That fortoun contraryit fast, And come to purposs at the last. |