Counterpoint

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈkaʊntə(ɹ)ˌpɔɪnt/

Definitions

1. A melody or argument that provides contrast and opposition while existing alongside another, creating complexity through independent or conflicting elements
2. The practice of combining separate melodic lines or viewpoints simultaneously to achieve harmonic richness or intellectual tension
3. A musical line played or sung simultaneously with another that contrasts it ; a differing point of view or argument made to provide balance or opposition

Etymology: Counterpoint began as a musical term. Medieval composers wrote "punctus contra punctum", or "note against note", meaning one melodic line set against another, and this became the Medieval Latin "contrāpūnctum". Its earlier English-facing life runs through Middle French "contrepoint", and the word's first sense was entirely about notes on a page, not argument. The second element is "point", which in music meant a note or the line that a note formed. The "counter-" prefix carries the sense of setting one thing against another, so a counterpoint was literally a point set against a point. Only later did the word leave the score and come to mean a contrasting idea in debate. The verb and the noun in modern English share this same root, and the musical sense still runs through both, since to counterpoint is to combine independent melodies in harmony.

Synonyms: contrast, opposition, antithesis, dissonance, juxtaposition

Antonyms: similarity, harmony, agreement, concord, accord