English
against
Against comes from Old English onġēan ‘opposite’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *in gagin.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*in gaginreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame formreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150onġēan‘opposite’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ayenes
- Englishearliest quotation 1590against
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*in gaginreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame formreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150onġēan‘opposite’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ayenes
- Englishearliest quotation 1590against
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto IX: “Thence she them brought into a stately Hall, /…”
A compound of *in ‘in’ + *gagin ‘towards, in the direction of’
Proto-Indo-European *h₁én ‘in’
Proto-Germanic *in ‘in’
Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰengʰ- ‘to walk’
Proto-Germanic *ganganą ‘to go, walk, step’
Proto-Germanic *gagin ‘towards, in the direction of’
The story
Formed from Middle English ayenes, agenes, againes (‘in opposition to’), a southern variant of agen, or directly from again, either way with adverbial genitive singular ending -es; the parasitic -t was added circa 1350, probably by confusion with the superlative ending -est.
Linked words
through Old English onġēan
Today it means
prep In a contrary direction to.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *in gagin / against