- coun|ter|point
- coun|ter|point1 «KOWN tuhr POYNT», noun, verb.–n.1. a melody added to another as an accompaniment.2. the art of adding melodies to a given melody according to fixed rules.3. the style of musical composition resulting from the way in which more or less individual melodies are combined according to fixed rules.4. = polyphony. (Cf. ↑polyphony)5. a style of literary or dramatic composition which uses a number of themes running counter to one another, usually at different levels and from shifting points of view.6. Figurative. any offsetting point or element; contrast: »
Their white robes…were a counterpoint to the predominant black of diplomats (New York Times).
–v.t.to stress by the use of counterpoint or contrasts.╂[< Middle French contrepoint]coun|ter|point2 «KOWN tuhr POYNT», noun.Obsolete. a coverlet for a bed; a counterpane.╂[< Old French contrepointe, earlier cuiltepointe a quilt stitched through < Latin culcita puncta]
Useful english dictionary. 2012.