different between antagonist vs nemesis

English

Etymology

From Latin antagonista, from Ancient Greek ???????????? (antag?nist?s, “opponent”) (???? (antí, “against”) + ????????? (ag?nist?s, “a combatant, pleader, actor”)), from ?????????????? (antag?nízesthai, “antagonize”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æn?tæ??n?st/

Noun

antagonist (plural antagonists)

1. An opponent or enemy.
   • 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie

     our antagonists in these controversies

2. One who antagonizes or stirs.
3. (biochemistry) A chemical that binds to a receptor but does not produce a physiological response, blocking the action of agonist chemicals.
   • 2001: The calcium antagonists represent one of the top ten classes of prescription drugs in terms of commercial value, with worldwide sales of nearly $10 billion in 1999. — Leslie Iversen, Drugs: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford 2001, p. 41)
4. (authorship) The main character or force opposing the protagonist in a literary work or drama.
5. (anatomy) A muscle that acts in opposition to another.

   A flexor, which bends a part, is the antagonist of an extensor, which extends it.

Antonyms

• protagonist
• agonist (biochemistry)

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

• stagnation

Danish

Noun

antagonist c (singular definite antagonisten, plural indefinite antagonister)

1. (literature) antagonist

Declension

Synonyms

• skurk

Further reading

• “antagonist” in Den Danske Ordbog

Romanian

Etymology

From French antagoniste, from Latin antagonista.

Adjective

antagonist m or n (feminine singular antagonist?, masculine plural antagoni?ti, feminine and neuter plural antagoniste)

1. antagonist

Declension

English

Etymology

From the Greek goddess of retribution Nemesis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?m?s?s/

Noun

nemesis (plural nemeses)

1. (chiefly Canada, US) An archenemy

2. (chiefly non-North American usage) A person or character who specifically brings about the downfall of another person or character.
3. The principle of retributive justice.
4. (usually in the singular, formal) A punishment or defeat that is deserved and cannot be avoided.
5. The polar opposite of a character.
6. A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent.

Coordinate terms

• antagonist
• villain
• rival
• bane
• archenemy
• adversary

Derived terms

• archnemesis
• chocolate nemesis
• nemetic

Translations

Anagrams

• Meissen, Semiens, misseen, siemens

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?ne.me.sis/, [?n?m?s??s?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?ne.me.sis/, [?n??m?s?is]

Noun

nemesis f (genitive nemesis or nemese?s or nemesios); third declension

1. nemesis

Declension

Third-declension noun (Greek-type, i-stem, i-stem).

¹Found sometimes in Medieval and New Latin.

Descendants

• Italian: nemesi
• Swedish: nemesis