different between opposition vs assailant

English

Etymology

From Middle English opposicioun, from Old French oposicion (whence French opposition), from Late Latin oppositi?, translating Ancient Greek ????????? (antíthesis), from the past participle stem of classical Latin opp?n? (“I set against”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?p??z???n/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?p??z??n?/

Noun

opposition (plural oppositions)

1. The action of opposing or of being in conflict.
2. An opposite or contrasting position.
3. (astronomy) The apparent relative position of two celestial bodies when one is at an angle of 180 degrees from the other as seen from the Earth.
5. (politics) A political party or movement opposed to the party or government in power.
6. (law) In United States intellectual property law, a proceeding in which an interested party seeks to prevent the registration of a trademark or patent.
7. (chess) A position in which the player on the move must yield with his king allowing his opponent to advance with his own king.
8. (logic) The difference of quantity or quality between two propositions having the same subject and predicate.

Antonyms

• apposition

Translations

Further reading

• opposition on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Finnish

Noun

opposition

1. Genitive singular form of oppositio.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from post-classical Latin oppositi? (translating Ancient Greek ????????? (antíthesis)), from the past participle stem of classical Latin opp?n? (“I set against”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?.po.zi.sj??/

Noun

opposition f (plural oppositions)

1. opposition

Derived terms

• par opposition à

Further reading

• “opposition” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Etymology

From Old French asaillant, from the verb asaillir (“to jump on”), from Latin assali?, itself from ad (“to, towards”) + sali? (“to jump”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??se?l?nt/

Noun

assailant (plural assailants)

1. Someone who attacks or assails another violently, or criminally.

   Synonym: attacker

   • c. 1599, William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act I, Scene 3,^[1]

     I’ll put myself in poor and mean attire,

     And with a kind of umber smirch my face;

     The like do you; so shall we pass along,

     And never stir assailants.

   • 1789, Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, London: for the author, Volume 1, Chapter 2, p. 47,^[2]

     […] commonly some of us used to get up a tree to look out for any assailant, or kidnapper, that might come upon us; for they sometimes took those opportunities of our parents absence to attack and carry off as many as they could seize.

   • 1935, Christopher Isherwood, Mr. Norris Changes Trains, Penguin, 1961, Chapter 8, p. 89,^[3]

     In the middle of a crowded street a young man would be attacked, stripped, thrashed, and left bleeding on the pavement; in fifteen seconds it was all over and the assailants had disappeared.

   • 2018, Edo Konrad, "Living in the constant shadow of settler violence", +972 Magazine:

     In the village of Aqraba, the Sheikh Saadeh Mosque was set on fire before the assailants graffitied the words “price tag” and “revenge” on its walls.

2. (figuratively, by extension) A hostile critic or opponent.
   • 1782, Frances Burney, Cecilia, London: T. Payne and Son and T. Cadell, Volume 5, Book 9, Chapter 3, p. 41,^[4]

     […] the assailants of the quill have their honour as much at heart as the assailants of the sword.

Translations

Adjective

assailant (not comparable)

1. Assailing; attacking.
   • 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes, lines 1687 to 1696.

Anagrams

• Alsatians, alsatians