oppose, v.
(əˈpəʊz)
[a. F. opposer, in 12th c. oposer (Hatz.-Darm.), f. L. ob- (ob- 2) + poser to place, put down, taken as representing L. pōnĕre to place (see pose, compose, depose, etc.). In OF. chiefly used in the mediæval sense of L. oppōnĕre ‘to oppose in argument, question, examine’, and in this sense alone found in ME., in which also it varied with apose, appose, which later became the established form: see appose v.1, pose v. For the more literal senses of oppōnĕre, which appear in the 16th c., oppone was at first used, but before 1600 oppose prevailed, as in compose, depose, dispose, expose, and other assumed representatives of L. pōnĕre. Branches I and II are thus of distinct history in Eng., though both repr. L. oppōnĕre.]
I. ME. uses, in mediæval sense of L. oppōnĕre.
† 1. trans. To confront with objections or hard question; to pose; to examine, interrogate, question; = appose v.1 1. Obs. (or merged in 9).
| c 1386 Chaucer Friar's T. 297 And answere there by my procutour To swich thyng as men wole opposen me [so 3 MSS.; v.rr. oposen, apposen, aposen]. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 72 Of tuo pointz sche him opposeth. c 1425 Found. St. Bartholomew's (E.E.T.S.) 56 He was callid yn of the preyste, and opposid. 1530 Palsgr. 647/1, I oppose one, I make a tryall of his lernyng, or I laye a thyng to his charge, je apose. 1570 T. Norton tr. Nowel's Catech. (1853) 109 The master opposeth the scholar to see how he hath profited. 1607 Norden Surv. Dial. ii. 39 You seeme to oppose me farre, and the thing you demaund, will require a longer time. |
2. absol. and intr. To put objections or hard questions; spec. to put forward objections to be answered by a person maintaining a philosophical or theological thesis, esp. as a means of qualifying for a degree, etc.; = appose v.1 2. Obs. exc. Hist.
| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 332 This king unto this maide opposeth, And axeth ferst what was hire name. c 1500 [implied in opposer 1]. 1581 E. Campion in Confer. iv. (1584) F f b, Let me oppose. Is it not reason that I shoulde oppose? 1581 W. Charke ibid., I will..suffer you to oppose and make an argument in this matter. 1690 E. Gee Jesuit's Mem. 176 To the end that fit men may prepare themselves to oppose for the same [scholarships, fellowships, etc.]. 1716 M. Davies Athen. Brit. II. 296 He was admitted to the reading of the Sentences, having a little before oppos'd in Divinity, in 1533. |
† 3. To examine and check (accounts), to audit; = appose v.1 3. Obs.
| a 1483 Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. (1790) 58 Suche parcelles of pourveyaunces as shal be brought in..and duly opposed in the countynghouse monethly. Ibid. 61 To helpe oppose all the partycular accomptes of offycers. |
II. Modern uses.
4. trans. To set (a thing) over against, place directly before or in front. Const. to, † against.
| 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. x. 48 Oppose thy stedfast gazing eyes to mine, See if thou canst out-face me with thy lookes. 1613 ― Hen. VIII, iv. i. 67 Her Grace sate downe..opposing freely The Beauty of her Person to the People. 1778 Sir J. Reynolds Disc. viii. (1876) 449 If one figure opposes his front to the spectator. 1781 Cowper Conversat. 269 The emphatic speaker dearly loves to oppose, In contact inconvenient, nose to nose. 1812–16 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art II. 180 When two equal magnets oppose their contrary poles to each other. 1842 Tennyson Ulysses 48 My mariners..That ever with a frolic welcome took The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed Free hearts, free foreheads. |
† b. To hold out for acceptance; to offer. Obs.
| 1598 Chapman Blinde Beg. Alexandria i. i, Let his true picture through your land be sent, Opposing great rewardes to him that findes him. |
† c. To expose, subject. Obs.
| 1589 Nahse Ded. Greene's Manaphon (Arb.) 9 And count it a great peece of arte in an inkhorn man..to oppose his superiours to envie. 1605 Shakes. Lear iv. vii. 32 Was this a face To be oppos'd [Qos. exposed] against the iarring windes? |
5. To set (something) against or on the other side, as a counterpoise or contrast; to bring forward or adduce by way of counterbalance; to contrast; to put in rhetorical or ideal opposition (to).
| 1579 Fulke Heskins' Parl. 23 He thinketh Alphonsus good ynough to oppose against Erasmus. 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 193 When the flesh is opposed and set against the spirite in man, wee vnderstand thereby, not the body only, but also the soule of man. 1652 Bp. Hall Invis. World ii. iii, Opposing our present condition to the succeeding. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 139 ¶6 The tragedy of Samson Agonistes has been..opposed with all the confidence of triumph to the dramatick performances of other nations. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 275 Memory and imagination, though we sometimes oppose them, are nearly allied. |
6. To set (something) against by way of hindrance, check, or resistance; to place as an obstacle; also, to set or place (a person) as an antagonist.
| 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 10, I do oppose My patience to his fury. 1607 ― Timon iii. iv. 80 What, are my dores oppos'd against my passage? 1704 Swift Batt. Bks. Misc. (1711) 255 Nor could the Modern have avoided present Death, if he had not luckily oppos'd the Shield that had been given him by Venus. 1794 Godwin Cal. Williams 195 The door was no longer opposed to my wishes. 1847 Mrs. A. Kerr Hist. Servia 438 Michael was determined..to oppose force to force. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. II. ix. 422 There was now no such unexceptionable rival to oppose to the Norman. |
7. refl. and intr. To set oneself in opposition, contend against, act in opposition or other resistance to. a. refl. Obs. or arch.
| 1590 Marlowe Edw. II, i. iv, Leave now t' oppose thyself against the King. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. iii. ii. 26 Thou art not ignorant How she opposes her against my will? 1676 Hobbes Iliad i. 183 Others fear t'opose themselves to me. 1717 Pope Eloisa 282 Oppose thyself to heav'n; dispute my heart. |
† b. intr. Obs.
| 1599 Sandys Europæ Spec. (1632) 41 To all such..as should oppose against his Soveraigntie. 1623 Bingham Xenophon 77 Aske them againe, quoth he, why they oppose against vs in armes. 1640 Habington Edw. IV 83 Warwicke opposed against their feare both with language and example. |
† c. intr. Of a thing: To be repugnant or contrary to. Obs.
| 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. xi. §3 If it be admitted that imagination hath power, and that Ceremonies fortify imagination,..yet I should hold them unlawful, as opposing to that first edict which God gave unto man. |
d. With inf. To forbid. rare.
| 1813 Byron Corsair ii. iv, My stern vow and order's laws oppose To break or mingle bread with friends or foes. |
8. trans. To stand or lie over against (something); to look towards, face, front. Now rare.
| 1608 [see opposing ppl. a. 1]. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 160 The Frontispice opposing the South, of an excellent structure. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. i. xxxiii. 75 They are so situate that each possesses a corner, and oppose one another in manner of a quadrangle. 1820 Shelley Hymn to Merc. xxxv, He walked..From one side to the other of the road, And with his face opposed the steps he trod. |
9. To set oneself against (a person or thing); to contend against with physical force, by exertion of influence, or by argument; to endeavour to hinder, thwart, or overthrow; to withstand, resist, combat; to stand in the way of, obstruct.
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iv. iv. 33 He shall be well oppos'd. 1607 ― Timon iii. v. 20 With a Noble Fury..He did oppose his Foe. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 419 Awaiting who appeer'd To second, or oppose, or undertake The perilous attempt. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 342 With these arms alone, it has often been found to oppose the dog, and even the Jaguar. 1792 Anecd. W. Pitt I. xx. 309 Pitt communicated to the Cabinet his resolution of attacking Spain. Lord Bute was the first person who opposed it. 1823 F. Clissold Ascent Mt. Blanc 21 After some hundred feet of ascent, we found ourselves opposed by a parapet of congealed snow. 1834 J. H. Newman Par. Serm. (1837) I. xxiv. 357 The world does not oppose religion as such. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. ii. 19 They opposed the idea of ascending further. |
| absol. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. i. 60 Or to take Armes against a Sea of troubles, And by opposing end them. a 1830 Tierney in Westm. Gaz. (1900) 22 Oct. 2/3 The duty of an Opposition is threefold: always to oppose, never to propose, and to turn out the Government. |
b. To contest. rare.
| 1822 Shelley Calderon's Magico Prodigioso i. 100, I Had so much arrogance as to oppose The chair of the most high Professorship, And obtained many votes. |