opponent
uh-POH-nuhnt · noun
LatinEnglish
Origin
Opponent comes from Latin oppōnēns, meaning 'opposing,' the present active participle of oppōnō, 'to oppose.'
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Journey
As a participle, it originally described the act of opposing itself; borrowed into English, it settled into naming the person doing that opposing.
Related words
Its root oppōnō ties it to the family of English words built on 'oppose,' all carrying that same sense of positioning against something.
More words
From Latin