countenance
pronunciation
How to pronounce countenance in British English:
UK [ˈkaʊntənəns]
How to pronounce countenance in American English:
US [ˈkaʊntənəns]
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- Noun:
- the appearance conveyed by a person's face
- formal and explicit approval
- the human face (`kisser' and `smiler' and `mug' are informal terms for `face' and `phiz' is British)
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- Verb:
- consent to, give permission
Word Origin
- countenance
- countenance: [13] A person’s countenance has nothing to do with computation. Etymologically, it is how they ‘contain’ themselves, or conduct themselves, and the word itself is a parallel construction with continence. It was borrowed from Old French contenance (a derivative of the verb contenir ‘contain’), which meant ‘behaviour’, ‘demeanour’, or ‘calmness’ as well as ‘contents’, and originally had this somewhat abstract sense in English.It was not until the 14th century that the meaning began to develop through ‘facial expression’ to the now familiar ‘face’ (traces of the original sense survive in such expressions as ‘put someone out of countenance’, meaning to make them lose their cool).=> contain, continence
- countenance (v.)
- late 15c., "to behave or act," from countenance (n.). Sense of "to favor, patronize" is from 1560s, from notion of "to look upon with sanction or smiles." Related: Countenanced; countenancing.
- countenance (n.)
- mid-13c., from Old French contenance "demeanor, bearing, conduct," from Latin continentia "restraint, abstemiousness, moderation," literally "way one contains oneself," from continentem, present participle of continere (see contain). Meaning evolving Middle English from "appearance" to "facial expression betraying a state of mind," to "face" itself (late 14c.).
Synonym
Antonym
Example
- 1. Management is understandably unwilling to countenance such a move .
- 2. And japan is unlikely to countenance an asian community dominated by china .
- 3. Even when he quit the npt , china refused to countenance acensuring un security council resolution .
- 4. The actor had a handsome and distinguished countenance .
- 5. Jealous of india 's bigger nuclear stockpile , it has since 2009 refused to countenance talks about production of fissile material .