contraire

Contraire is a term with several related uses in language, philosophy, and logic. In French, the word is an adjective meaning opposite or opposed, as in “la couleur contraire” (the opposite color). As a noun, le contraire refers to the opposite thing or a person who is one’s opponent in a debate or competition. The term derives from the Latin contrarius, from contra meaning against.

In philosophical and logical contexts, contraire denotes a specific type of opposition between propositions. In Aristotelian or traditional syllogistic logic, contraries are pairs of universal propositions with the same subject and predicate that cannot both be true, though they can both be false. For example, “All swans are white” (A) and “No swans are white” (E) are contraries. By contrast, particular propositions come in subcontraries (e.g., “Some swans are white” and “Some swans are not white”). Contraries are distinct from contradictories, which cannot both be true or both be false (A contradicts O; E contradicts I).

Beyond logic, the term appears in English as “the contrary” to denote the opposing view or thing. In English prose, contraire is mainly a historical or translational usage, with the normal English noun being “the contrary.” The concept remains central to discussions of opposition, negation, and opposition of ideas or properties.