Etymograph

English

opposite

Opposite comes from Middle English opposit, from Old French oposite, from Latin oppositus ‘set against’, past participle of oppōnō ‘to oppose’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tḱey-1‘to settle’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tḱinéti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sinō1‘to put in place’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pozinō1reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpōnō1‘to put, place’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoppōnō2‘to set against, oppose’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400oposite2
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500opposit2
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1697opposite2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin oppono
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English opposite
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1697, Virgil, Dedication: “Novels, by which the reader is misled into another…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tḱey-Wiktionary, Latin oppono‘to settle’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tḱinétiWiktionary, Latin opponoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sinōWiktionary, Latin oppono‘to put in place’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pozinōWiktionary, Latin opponoreconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpōnōWiktionary, Latin oppono‘to put, place’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoppōnōWiktionary, English opposite‘to set against, oppose’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400opositeWiktionary, English opposite
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500oppositWiktionary, English opposite
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1697oppositeWiktionary, English opposite. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1697, Virgil, Dedication: “Novels, by which the reader is misled into another…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with opposite, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *tḱey- ‘to cultivate’

  • homeless ← *homles ← hāmlēas ← hām ← *haim
  • compound ← compounen ← componre ← componō
  • suppose ← supposen ← supposer
  • hamlet ← hamelet ← hamel ← ham ← *haim
  • impose ← imposen ← imposer
  • bohemian ← bohémien ← Bohême ← Bohême ← Boiohaemum
  • homely ← homly ← *hāmlīċ ← *haimalīk ← *haim
  • hame ← ham ← hām ← *haim ← *haimaz

through Proto-Indo-European *tḱinéti

  • prepositional ← praepositiō ← praepōnō ← pōnō ← *sinō

through Proto-Italic *sinō ‘to put in place’

  • situation ← situacioun ← situatio ← situare ← situs
  • composition ← composicioun ← composicion ← compositiō ← positiō
  • posture ← postura ← positūrus ← pōnō ← *sinō

245 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

adj Located directly across from something else, or from each other.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “opposite”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin oppono. 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 *tḱey- / opposite