Countercharge

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. An accusation made in reply to a previous charge ; an electrical charge that is opposite to and neutralizes another charge
2. A claim or allegation presented as a defense following an initial accusation ; an electric charge that counters another by having the opposite polarity
3. A retaliatory accusation brought against an accuser ; a charge of electricity equal in strength but opposite in sign to another charge

Etymology: Countercharge is simply a compound of "counter" and "charge," and the history of its parts is more striking than the compound itself. "Counter" comes from Latin "contra," meaning "against," which reached English through Old French "contre" and Anglo-Norman "countre," so the word has always carried the sense of opposing or answering something. "Charge" has a far more physical past: it descends from Latin "carrus," a wheeled vehicle, through Late Latin "carricare," meaning to load a cart. The idea of loading a burden onto a vehicle eventually grew into the modern senses of entrusting, accusing, and attacking. Put together, a countercharge is literally a load set against another load. In legal and everyday English it means an accusation made in reply to an accusation, so a person accused of fraud might answer with a countercharge that the accuser was lying. The picture of freight being balanced on opposite sides of a scale suits the sense well, though the compound itself is a straightforward modern formation rather than an old coinage with a recorded inventor.

Synonyms: counteraccusation, rebuttal, response, retort, answer