contra-
French, prefix
contra- is spelled C-O-N-T-R-A (6 letters) and appears about once in every 1 million words in written French, the 32,322nd most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Contra- is a French prefix meaning “contra-” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). On this page, contra is a different word: “third-person singular past historic of contrer”. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Préfixe qui exprime une opposition, variante de contre-”.
What does contra- mean in English?
prefix
- 1
contra-
verb
- 1
third-person singular past historic of contrer
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
prefix: 1. Préfixe qui exprime une opposition, variante de contre-.
noun: 1. Milicien contre-révolutionnaire dans un pays latino-américain.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of contra-
- contras plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How common is contra- in French?
contra- appears about once in every 1 million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).