▪ I. ˈcounterchange, n.
[ad. F. contrechange= It. contracambio (Florio): see counter- 3, 5, 11.]
† 1. a. Exchange of one thing against another. Obs.
| 1579 Fenton Guicciard. vi. (1599) 268 To occupie any place of importance..which they might hold in counter⁓chaunge, or as a pawne to haue againe Montpulcian. 1581 A. Anderson Serm. Paules Crosse 81 Trafique, or craue counterchange with the Marchaunt or Usurer. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 924 Concerning counterchange of goods. 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 124 In counterchange..of the Corne..transported into forren Countries, there is yearely brought into France, etc. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Counter-change, a mutual Exchange made between two Parties by Compact or Agreement. |
b. Equal or equivalent return; requital, reciprocation. Obs.
| 1586 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. i. (1594) 407 The Romanes, being unwilling that he [Pyrrhus] should excell them in any kinde of beneficence..sent him as many prisoners of his for a counter-change. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. ix. 16 But Paridell sore brused with the blow Could not arise the counterchaunge to scorse. a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) I. 425 In counterchange whereof [kind entertainment] he then..flatly arrested his host. |
† 2. a. Transposition. Obs. [Cf. counterchange v. 3 b.]
| 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xix. (Arb.) 217 Anti⁓metauole or the Counterchange, a figure which takes a couple of words to play with in a verse, and by making them to chaunge and shift one into others place they do very pretily exchange and shift the sence. 1622 Peacham Compl. Gent. xi. (1634) 103 Hath not Musicke her figures, the same which Rhetorique? What is a Revert but her Antistrophe?..her counterchange of points, Antimetabole's? |
b. Alternation. Obs.
| 1602 T. Fitzherbert Apol. 33 a, The varietie and counterchange of good & bad successe in the warres betwyxt King Henry the sixt and King Edward the fourth. |
3. a. (counter-change.) A change which is the counterpart of another.
| 1820 L. Hunt Indicator No. 27. (1822) I. 214 She therefore wrought a counter-change in the appearance of Procris. |
b. Esp. in design, a pattern which systematically employs contrasting effects or where pattern and background are of the same shape.
| 1888 F. G. Jackson Lessons on Decorative Design vi. 139 By ‘counterchange’ is understood the arrangement of a pattern in such a way that itself and the ground shall be of the same form, showing at once that it is but a special way of employing..repetition. 1962 R. G. Haggar Dict. Art Terms 96/2 Counterchange, alternation of effect in pictorial design; for example, light upon dark balanced by dark against light. 1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage i. 34 An inlay based on a counterchange design..demands a contrast of colour or tone to give it point. 1970 Times (Suppl.) 28 Feb. p. vii/4 Seaweed or arabesque marquetry..were created by an economical method known as counter⁓change. |
▪ II. counterchange, v.
(ˌkaʊntəˈtʃeɪndʒ)
[ad. F. contrechanger (16th c.) = It. contracambiare (Florio): see counter- 1.]
† 1. trans. To exchange against or for another.
| 1598 Florio, Contracambiare, to counterchange. 1603 ― Montaigne i. xxxviii. (1632) 120 Who doth not willingly chop and counterchange his health, his ease, yea, and his life for glorie? 1646 J. Hall Poems 28 (T.) Then shall aggrandiz'd love confess..That hearts can eas'ly counter-changed be. |
2. To change to the opposite (position, state, or quality); to cause to exchange places, qualities, etc.; to transpose.
| 1613 R. C. Table Alph. (ed. 3) Counterchange, to change againe. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. iii. 168 You shall see the Stone to Counterchange its Situation, and those æquatorial parts of the Magnet, which before respected the East, shall now wheel about, and fix themselves in the West. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) II. 154 When they are counterchanged the Ranter becomes an Hypocrite, and the Hypocrite an able Ranter. |
b. absol. or intr. To change places or parts.
| 1851 Sir. F. Palgrave Norm. & Eng. I. 65 The contracting sovereigns counterchanged; Charles swore in Deutsch, Louis in Roman. |
3. Her. To interchange or reverse the tinctures; to give (a charge) the same tinctures as the field (when this is of two tinctures), but reversed; so that e.g. colour comes upon metal, and metal upon colour. See counterchanged.
| 1864 Boutell Heraldry Hist. & Pop. xv. §9. (ed. 3) 194 William counter-changes the tinctures. 1882 Cussans Her. (ed. 3) 82 When a Roundle is counterchanged, it loses its distinctive name. |
b. transf. and fig. To interchange, to chequer.
| 1614 Sylvester Bethulia's Rescue iv. 54 Her Ivory Neck Rubies and Saphirs counter-chang'd in check. 1728 R. North Mem. Musick (1846) 32 Counterchanging harsh and mild consonances. 1830 Tennyson Arab. Nts. 84 A sudden splendour..counterchanged The level lake with diamond-plots Of dark and bright. 1850 ― In Mem. lxxxix. 1 Witch-elms that counterchange the floor Of this flat lawn with dusk and bright. 1864 Realm 22 June 7 The cognate Teutons, who counterchange the debatable border between Denmark and Germany. |