English
antithesis
Antithesis comes from Ancient Greek ἀντίθεσις, from ᾰ̓ντῐτῐ́θημῐ ‘to set against’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-1‘to do’root named by Wiktionary
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEᾰ̓ντῐτῐ́θημῐ2‘to set against’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀντίθεσις1antíthesis
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEantithesis1
- Englishearliest quotation 1835antithesis1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English antithesis
- 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἀντίθεσις
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1835, Larret Langley, [Rhetorical Figures.] Antithesis.: “Antithesis, opposing things to things, Oft from the contrast…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-Wiktionary, English antithesis‘to do’root named by Wiktionary
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEᾰ̓ντῐτῐ́θημῐWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἀντίθεσις‘to set against’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀντίθεσιςWiktionary, English antithesisantíthesis
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEantithesisWiktionary, English antithesis
- Englishearliest quotation 1835antithesisWiktionary, English antithesis. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1835, Larret Langley, [Rhetorical Figures.] Antithesis.: “Antithesis, opposing things to things, Oft from the contrast…”
Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- ‘forehead’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂énts ‘forehead’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂énti ‘opposite’
Ancient Greek ᾰ̓ντῐ́ ‘over against, opposite’
English anti-
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’
…
Ancient Greek τῐ́θημῐ ‘to place, put, set’
Ancient Greek θέσῐς ‘arrangement, placement, setting’
Latin thesis ‘proposition, thesis’
Middle English thesis ‘lowering of the voice’
English thesis
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’
do, fact, deal, hot, fair, defense, fashion, feature, mid, fan, benefit, defence, custom, theme, treasury, sufficient, treasure, ethnic, feast, ethical, doom, deed, defendant, theology, tick, dis, aesthetic, synthetic, auditorium, demi, ethic, deem, spade, auditor, feral, familial, medial, forfeit, atheist, ethos, 128 more
Today it means
noun A proposition that is the diametric opposite of some other proposition.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “antithesis”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek ἀντίθεσις. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- / antithesis