counterintensification
|coun-ter-in-ten-si-fi-ca-tion|
🇺🇸
/ˌkaʊn.tər.ɪnˌtɛn.sɪ.fɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/
🇬🇧
/ˌkaʊn.tə(r).ɪnˌtɛn.sɪ.fɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/
reduction of intensity / opposing intensification
Etymology
'counterintensification' originates from the productive English prefix 'counter-' (from Latin contra, through Old French), meaning 'against, opposite', combined with 'intensification' (from 'intensify' + suffix '-cation'), where 'intensify' traces to Latin intens- 'stretched/strained' with the sense 'make more intense'.
'counter-' was used in English from Middle English as a prefix meaning 'opposite to' and was attached to many Latinate nouns; 'intensification' developed in Modern English by adding the noun-forming suffix '-ation' to 'intensify' (itself formed from Latin-derived elements). The compound 'counterintensification' is a modern English formation using these parts to express opposition to intensification.
Initially, the root idea (from 'intensify') meant 'to make more intense'; by combining with 'counter-' the compound's meaning became 'to oppose or reverse that increase of intensity', i.e., 'to reduce or negate intensification'.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the process or action of countering or reversing intensification; a reduction or mitigation of intensity, escalation, or emphasis.
The committee's counterintensification measures helped de-escalate tensions between the groups.
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Noun 2
in linguistics, a change or process by which an originally intensified form or marker loses some of its emphatic force in certain contexts (e.g., phonological, morphological, or pragmatic environments).
Some dialects show counterintensification of emphatic particles in rapid speech.
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Last updated: 2025/11/13 05:40