Word of the Day for Thursday March 9, 2006 contradistinction \kon-truh-dis-TINK-shuhn\, noun: Distinction by contrast; as, "sculpture in contradistinction to painting." In the quarter-century since "[1]Gravity's Rainbow," American novelists have increasingly fixed their boldest inventions in the past, usually their own early years or a time long before they were born -- in contradistinction to postwar writers who vigorously peeled away World War II and the social fabric of the 1950's. -- Gary Giddins, "Escape to New York," [2]New York Times, September 20, 1998 The music was breathing constantly, in contradistinction to the willfully suffocated feeling of most heavy music. -- Ben Ratliff, "A Brazilian Band Emerges From the Loss of Its Leader," [3]New York Times, July 28, 2000 _________________________________________________________ Contradistinction is contra-, from Latin contra, "against" + distinction, from Latin distinctio, from distinguere, "to distinguish." References 1. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140188592/ref=nosim/lexico 2. http://www.nytimes.com/ 3. http://www.nytimes.com/ Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=9&q=contradistinction