adverse (adj.)

late 14c., "contrary, opposing," from Old French advers, earlier avers (13c., Modern French adverse) "antagonistic, unfriendly, contrary, foreign" (as in gent avers "infidel race"), from Latin adversus "turned against, turned toward, fronting, facing," figuratively "hostile, adverse, unfavorable," past participle of advertere "to turn toward," from ad "to" (see ad-) + vertere "to turn, turn back; be turned; convert, transform, translate; be changed" (from PIE root *wer- (2) "to turn, bend"). For distinction of use, see averse. Related: Adversely.

also from late 14c.

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averse (adj.)

mid-15c., "turned away in mind or feeling, disliking, unwilling," from Old French avers "hostile, antagonistic" and directly from Latin aversus "turned away, turned back," past participle of avertere "to turn away," from ab "off, away from" (see ab-) + vertere "to turn" (see versus). Originally and usually in English in the mental sense, while averted is used in a physical sense.

Averse applies to feeling, adverse to action: as, I was very averse to his going: an adverse vote: adverse fortune. [Century Dictionary, 1906]

adversity (n.)

c. 1200, aduersite "condition of misfortune, hardship, difficulty, distress," from Old French adversite, aversite "adversity, calamity, misfortune; hostility, wickedness, malice" (Modern French adversité), from Latin adversitatem (nominative adversitas) "opposition," from adversus "turned against, hostile" (see adverse).

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contrary

mid-14c., "opposite, opposed, at the opposite point or in the opposite direction; extremely unlike, most unlike," from Anglo-French contrarie, Old French contrarie, and directly from Latin contrarius "opposite, opposed; contrary, reverse," from contra "against" (see contra). Mean

froward

12c., froward, fraward "turned against, perverse, disobedient; peevish, petulant; adverse, difficult," as a preposition,...

against

12c., agenes "in opposition to, adverse, hostile; in an opposite direction or position, in contact with, in front of, so...

despair

In this despair is akin to desperation, which is an active state and always tends to produce a furious struggle against adverse...

discriminate

The adverse sense, "make invidious distinctions prejudicial to a class of persons" (usually based on race or color) is first...

oppose

The meaning "to set or place over against or directly opposite" (transitive) and "interpose effort or objection, be adverse...

cross

Sense of "adverse, opposed, obstructing, contrary, opposite" is from 1560s; of persons, "peevish, ill-tempered," from 1630s...

gent

colloquial shortening of gentleman, by 17c. In early uses it is difficult to distinguish the shortening from the common abbreviation gent., which perhaps is the origin of this word. "Early in the nineteenth century the word was colloquial and slightly jocular; about 1840 its use

honky

also honkey, derogatory word for "white person," by 1967, African-American vernacular, of unknown origin, perhaps from late 19c. hunky "East-Central European immigrant," which probably is a colloquial shortening of Hungarian (compare hunk (n.2)). Honky in the sense of "factory ha

pool

"small body of standing water," Old English pol "small body of water; deep, still place in a stream," from Proto-West Germanic *pōl- (source also of Old Frisian and Middle Low German pol, Dutch poel, Old High German pfuol, German Pfuhl "pool, puddle"), which is of uncertain origi

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updated on September 28, 2017

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