Counterposes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To place two concepts or items against each other to highlight their distinctions
2. To arrange opposing elements in a manner that showcases their variance and contrast
3. To set two ideas or objects up opposite each other to emphasize their differences

Etymology: "Counterposes" is the third-person singular form of "counterpose", so the story belongs to the verb itself. It was borrowed from French "contraposer", which combines "contre" (against) with "poser" (to place), so the English word literally means to set one thing against another. The English verb is built the same way: "counter-", meaning opposite or against, attached to "pose", which here means to put forward or set down. The sense of balancing one thing against its opposite is the heart of the word. Its meaning comes from the physical act of placing one object opposite another, and the figurative sense of comparing ideas grew naturally from that picture of two things facing each other across a space.

Synonyms: contrasts, opposes, juxtaposes, places against, positions