Pronunciation:

antagonist, n. /ænˈtægənɪst/

Etymology: < (perhaps through French antagoniste, 16th cent. in Litt.) Latin antagōnista (in Jerome), <

Greek ἀνταγωνιστ-ής opponent, rival, n. of agent < ἀνταγωνίζ-εσθαι: see ANTAGONIZE v.

Oxford English Dictionary | The definitive record of the Englishlanguage

antagonist, n. : Oxford English Dictionary http://www.oed.com.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/viewdictionaryentry/Entry...

1 of 3 11-03-01 12:13 PM

1. One who contends with another in an athletic contest, a battle, orstruggle for the mastery; an opponent, an adversary.

1616 B. JONSON Cynthias Revels V. ii. 24 in Wks. I, Your Antagonist, or player-against-you.

1623 H. COCKERAM Eng. Dict., Antagonist, an enemy.

1667 MILTON Paradise Lost X. 387 Satan‥Antagonist of Heav'ns Almightie King.

1790 E. BURKE Refl. Revol. in France 246 He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves, and

sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper.

1855 W. H. PRESCOTT Hist. Reign Philip II I. I. ii. 60 Philip ran the first course. His antagonist

was the Count Mansfeldt, a Flemish captain of great renown.

2. An opponent in any sphere of human action, as politics,controversy, etc.

1626 PORY in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. II. 333 III. 247 Potter and Godfrey, antagonistes to the

Pope's supremacy here.

1628 W. PRYNNE Briefe Surv. Mr. Cozens 14 Marke what good vse our Antagonist makes of this

conclusion.

1706 Phillips's New World of Words (ed. 6) , Antagonist‥one that in Disputation or Arguing

opposes another.

1831 D. BREWSTER Life I. Newton xv. 265 This answer of Sir Isaac's‥called into the field a fresh

antagonist.

3. An impersonal agent acting in opposition.

1711 J. ADDISON Spectator No. 10. ¶3 A well written Book, compared with its Rivals and

Antagonists, is like Moses's Serpent.

1794 R. J. SULIVAN View of Nature II. 117 Fire and air act as antagonists in boiling.

1836 J. GILBERT Christian Atonem. v. 188 Justice and mercy ought by no means to be considered

as antagonists.

4. Physiol. A muscle which counteracts another, contracting whilethe opposite one relaxes, and conversely.

1706 Phillips's New World of Words (ed. 6) , Antagonista or Antagonist (in Anat.) is taken for a

Muscle of an opposite Situation or contrary Quality.

1728 E. CHAMBERS Cycl. (at cited word), We have some solitary Muscles, without any

Antagonists.

1880 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon (at cited word), The flexor muscles are the antagonists of the

antagonist, n. : Oxford English Dictionary http://www.oed.com.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/viewdictionaryentry/Entry...

2 of 3 11-03-01 12:13 PM

Oxford University PressCopyright © 2010 Oxford University Press . All rights reserved.

Your access is brought to you by:Simon Fraser University

extensors.

5. Used attrib. as n. in apposition, or adj.: = ANTAGONISTIC adj.

1671 MILTON Samson Agonistes 1628 None daring to appear Antagonist.

1777 J. PRIESTLEY Doctr. Philos. Necessity §4. 31 A limb is kept motionless by the equal action of

antagonist muscles.

1789 T. JEFFERSON Writings (1859) II. 588 The antagonist nation.

1830 S. T. COLERIDGE On Constit. Church & State 141 Antagonist forces are necessarily of the

same kind.

1830 J. F. W. HERSCHEL Disc. Study Nat. Philos. 189 The quality of opacity is not a contrary or

antagonist quality to that of transparency.

6. Biochem. A substance or organism that inhibits or interferes withthe action of another substance or organism. Cf. ANTAGONISM n. 1d.Freq. with defining word.

1889 J. V. SHOEMAKER & J. AULDE Treat. Materia Med., Pharmacol. I. I. 122 After the ingestion

of a poison its physiological antagonist might be administered with the expectation that the

effects of the first poison might be counteracted by the second.

1889 J. V. SHOEMAKER & J. AULDE Treat. Materia Med., Pharmacol. I. I. 123 Morphine and

atropine are well-known physiological antagonists.

1961 Lancet 12 Aug. 371/1 The adverse effects commonly produced by cytotoxic and cytostatic

agents such as‥folic-acid antagonists.

1961 Lancet 2 Sept. 512/2 Only one other patient with periodic paralysis has been treated with an

aldosterone antagonist.

antagonist, n.Second edition, 1989; online version November 2010. <http://www.oed.com.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/Entry/8172>;accessed 01 March 2011. Earlier version first published in New English Dictionary, 1885.

antagonist, n. : Oxford English Dictionary http://www.oed.com.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/viewdictionaryentry/Entry...

3 of 3 11-03-01 12:13 PM