English

Noun

countersense ‎(plural countersenses)

1. opposite meaning
   • c 1645, James Howell, Epistolae Ho-Elianae, Book IV, XIX:

     Moreover, I find there are some Words now in French which are turned to a Countersense; as, we use the Dutch Word Crank, in English, to be well-disposed, which in the Original signifieth to be sick. So in French, Cocu is taken for one whose Wife is light, and hath made him a passive Cuckold; whereas clean contrary, Cocu, which is the Cuckow, doth use to lay her Eggs in another Bird's Nest.

   • 1895, Herbert Baynes, The Idea of God and the Moral Sense in the Light of Language, Vol II, p. 5:

     But in order to gauge the concept of Evil in all its forms we must compare it with the corresponding forms of Good. For the law of relativity applies here as elsewhere, giving us sense and countersense, thesis and antithesis, positive and negative.

   • 1968, Francis L. Lawrence, Moliere: the comedy of unreason (page 102)

     Panurge's comedy is the agony of indecision as he struggles obstinately and vainly to interpret every unfavorable omen in its countersense, to substitute his willful imagining for reality and fate.

2. a nonsensical idea; a contradiction in terms; something that contradicts an established principle, architectural or musical style, etc.
   • 1905, J. M. Robertson, Letters on Reasoning, p. 225

     On that line we reach simply the old countersense: "All is Reality" is as meaningless a proposition as "All is Illusion."

   • 1899, William Archer, "What Can Be Done for the Drama?", The Anglo-Saxon Review, Vol. IV, p. 232:

     A state theatre, where it exists in a democratic country, is always a legacy from an autocratic past. If it be a worthy and well-managed theatre, to which popular sentiment is habituated, it is no doubt a highly desirable legacy. But for a democracy, and especially an Anglo-Saxon democracy, to set about creating such a theatre would be, I think, a countersense.

   • c. 1900, Lura F. Heckenlively, The Fundamentals of Gregorian Chant, p. 247

     This Introit is to be sung broadly, but always without heaviness, and almost in half voice, without great nuances, and in a rather low tonality. It would give a serious countersense to sing it with a great cry of joy, and to give it "éclat" under the pretext that "it is Easter ".