counter-prefix

Etymology: Middle English and Anglo-Norman countre- , < French contre- (= Provençal Italian contra- ) < Latin contrā adverb and prefix (see contra- prefix) against, in return. The form in which the Latin prefix has come down through French into English. Used in words actually adopted from earlier French, as counterbalance , counterchange , counterfeit , countermand , countermarch , countermark , countermure , counterpoise , counterseal , countersign , etc., and their derivatives; also in adaptations of later French or Italian words in contre- , contra- ; and in many words formed after them in English. Counter has thus become a living element of the language, capable of entering into new combinations even with words of Germanic origin. It may be prefixed, when required, to almost any substantive expressing action, as motion , counter-motion , current , counter-current , or even to any word in which action or incidence is imputed, as measure , counter-measure , poison , counter-poison . Hence it is often viewed as an independent element, written separately, and practically treated as an adjective: see counter adj. In those compounds which we have taken from French or Italian, the consolidation of the word is usually greater than in those formed in English, and they are regularly written as single words, as counterbalance , counterfeit , countermand , countermarch , though sometimes with the hyphen. The stress is normally, in verbs and their derivatives, on the root, in nouns and their derivatives, on the prefix: cf. to underˈgo , ˈundertone . But there are exceptions, esp. where the noun stress is taken by a verb of the same form, as in to ˈcounterfeit . In words formed in English the two elements are in looser union, both accentually and in writing. In verbs the rhetorical or antithetical stress on the prefix may be equal to, or even for the nonce stronger than, that normally on the root, as in to plan and ˈcounter-ˈplan (ˈcounter-ˌplan ), and the two parts are properly hyphenated. In nouns, when the counter- word is contrasted explicitly or implicitly with the simple word (as in 2b – 2d), the predominant stress of the prefix is strongly marked, as in ˈcounter-cheer , ˈcounter-aˌnnouncement . These are properly written with the hyphen (now rarely as a single word, but occasionally in two separate words). When such a contrast is not distinctly present (as in 2e, 2h), the predominance of the prefix is less marked, and the root-element may receive an equal or greater stress; in such case there is a growing tendency to write the prefix as a separate qualifying word, and in fact to treat it as an adjective. Thus counter-side , counter-truth , become counter side , counter truth : see counter adj.All permanent compounds in counter-, with some of the more important of the looser combinations, are given in their alphabetical order; of the casual combinations (many of them nonce-words) of obvious meaning, examples here follow.