counterpart

English

Etymology

Recorded since 1451, originally as countre part "duplicate of a legal document", from Old French contrepartie, itself from contre (“facing, opposite”) (from Latin contra (“against”)) + partie (“copy of a person or thing”) (originally past participle of partīre (“to divide”)). Equivalent to counter- +‎ part.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaʊntəˌpɑːt/
• IPA^(key): /ˈkaʊntɚˌpɑɹt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

counterpart (plural counterparts)

1. Either of two parts that fit together, or complement one another.

   Those brass knobs and their hollow counterparts interlock perfectly

   • 2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     Mr. Obama never found a generational counterpart among conservatives in Congress like Paul D. Ryan or Eric Cantor; instead, there was a mutual animosity.

2. (law) A duplicate of a legal document.
3. One which resembles another
4. One which has corresponding functions or characteristics.
   • 2011 November 12, “International friendly: England 1-0 Spain”, in BBC Sport‎^[2]:

     England's attacking impetus was limited to one shot from Lampard that was comfortably collected by keeper Iker Casillas, but for all Spain's domination of the ball his England counterpart Joe Hart was unemployed.

5. (paleontology) Either half of a flattened fossil when the rock has split along the plane of the fossil.

Synonyms

• equivalent
• homolog
• opposite number
• pendant

Related terms

• counterbalance
• counterpoint
• countersign
• counterweight
• complement
• partner

Translations

either of two parts that fit together, or complement one another

• Afrikaans: eweknie (af)
• Bulgarian: двойник (bg) m (dvojnik), еш m (eš)
• Dutch: tegenhanger (nl) m, complement (nl) n, pendant (nl) m
• Finnish: vastakappale, vastinkappale
• French: contre-partie (fr) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Galician: equivalente (gl) m
• German: Gegenstück n, Pendant (de) n
• Greek: ομόλογος (el) m (omólogos)
• Romanian: contrapiesă f
• Russian: двойни́к (ru) m (dvojník)

law: duplicate of a legal document

• Bulgarian: дубликат (bg) m (dublikat), копие (bg) n (kopie)
• Czech: stejnopis m
• Dutch: duplikaat n
• Finnish: rinnakkaiskappale
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Duplikat (de) n, Kopie (de) f
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} macasamhail f, cóip (ga) f
• Romanian: duplicat (ro) n
• Russian: дублика́т (ru) m (dublikát), ко́пия (ru) f (kópija)

something that resembles something else

• Bulgarian: двойник (bg) m (dvojnik)
• Czech: protějšek m
• Dutch: gelijke (nl) n, equivalent (nl) n, tegenhanger (nl) m
• Finnish: vastine (fi)
• German: Ebenbild (de) n
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: hasonmás (hu)
• Polish: odpowiednik (pl) m
• Portuguese: sósia (pt) c
• Russian: двойни́к (ru) m (dvojník), ко́пия (ru) f (kópija), ана́лог (ru) m (análog)

one which has corresponding functions or characteristics

• Arabic: نَظِير (ar) m (naẓīr)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 對方／对方 (zh) (duìfāng), 对方 (zh) (duìfāng)

• Czech: protějšek m
• Dutch: evenknie (nl) m or f, tegenhanger (nl) m, tegenpartij (nl) m, tegenspeler (nl) m, equivalent (nl) n
• Finnish: vastine (fi)
• French: homologue (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Gegenüber (de) n
• Greek: ομόλογος (el) m (omólogos), ομόλογη f (omólogi)
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} macasamhail f
• Japanese: 相手 (ja) (あいて, aite)
• Maori: hāngaitanga
• Russian: (analogue) ана́лог (ru) m (análog), (colleague) колле́га (ru) m or f (kolléga), контраге́нт (ru) m (kontragént)
• Slovak: náprotivok m
• Spanish: homólogo (es) m, homóloga (es) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} homologue (fr), ^{(please verify)} duplicat m, ^{(please verify)} pendant (fr) m, ^{(please verify)} équivalent (fr) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} athghin f, ^{(please verify)} cuntrapháirt f, ^{(please verify)} leathbhreac m, ^{(please verify)} leathcheann m, ^{(please verify)} leithéid f

Verb

counterpart (third-person singular simple present counterparts, present participle counterparting, simple past and past participle counterparted)

1. Counterbalance.