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Word of the Day Archive
Tuesday February 12, 2002

contravene \kon-truh-VEEN\, transitive verb:
1. To act or be counter to; to violate.
2. To oppose in argument; to contradict.

In 1620 most people considered the likelihood of reversing the seasons inside a building impossible, and many deemed it sacrilege, an attempt to contravene the natural order, to twist the configuration of the world established by God.
-- Tom Shachtman, Absolute Zero and the Conquest of Cold

Anorexics, for example, clearly contravene our evolutionary dictate to eat.
-- Jerry A. Coyne, "Of Vice and Men", The New Republic, April 3, 2000

Contravene comes from Late Latin contravenire, "to oppose," from Latin contra-, "against" + venire, "to come."

Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for contravene

 

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