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PlainSpell

counterpart

/ˈkaʊntɚˌpɑɹt/noun, verb

counterpart is spelled C-O-U-N-T-E-R-P-A-R-T: 11 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 5.0 times per million words in written English, the 11,198th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, counterpart means “Either of two parts that fit together or otherwise complement one another” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of counterpart is counterparts.

How many letters and syllables are in counterpart?

Letters11: C-O-U-N-T-E-R-P-A-R-T
Syllables3 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing5.0 times per million words; the 11,198th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is counterpart?

Counterpart appears 5.0 times per million words in written English, the 11,198th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce counterpart?

  • UK /ˈkaʊntəˌpɑːt/
  • US /ˈkaʊntɚˌpɑɹt/

Counterpart has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-counterpart.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of counterpart

  • counterparts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • counterparting participle, present
  • counterparted participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does counterpart mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Either of two parts that fit together or otherwise complement one another.

    Near-synonyms: complement, mate

  2. 2

    A duplicate of a legal document.

  3. 3

    One who or that which resembles another.

  4. 4

    One who or that which has corresponding functions or characteristics.

    Near-synonyms: (each contextually synonymous) opposite number, counterparty, opponent, homolog, homotype, equivalent, partner, vis-à-vis

  5. 5

    Either half of a flattened fossil when the rock has split along the plane of the fossil.

verb

  1. 1

    To counterbalance.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Counterpart in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcontre-partie (either of two parts that fit together, or…), homologue (one which has corresponding functions or…)
GermanGegenstück, Pendant (either of two parts that fit together, or…), Gegenüber (one which has corresponding functions or…), Duplikat, Kopie (law: duplicate of a legal document), Ebenbild (something that resembles something else)
Spanishcontrapartida (either of two parts that fit together, or…), homólogo, homóloga (one which has corresponding functions or…), contrapunto (something that resembles something else)
Portuguesesósia (something that resembles something else)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does counterpart come from?

From Middle English conterpart, countre parte (“duplicate of a legal document”), equivalent to counter- + part. Compare Old French contrepartie, itself from contre (“facing, opposite”) (from Latin contra (“against”)) + partie (“copy of a person or thing”) (originally past participle of partīre (“to divide”)).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after counterpart