countenance

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈkaʊntənəns/ UK /ˈkaʊntɪnəns/ See IPA manual

noun verb

Meanings

1

noun
a person's face or expression; to give support to

A shadow of grief crossed his countenance at the news.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person's face or... face expression visage aspect mien support sanction

Opposites

oppose forbid prohibit veto

Word family

Etymology

From Old French 'contenance' ('bearing, demeanor'), from Latin 'continentia' ('restraint, demeanor'), from 'continere' ('to hold together, contain').

contenance Old French continere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

# countenance

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** ˈkaʊntənəns
**IPA (UK):** ˈkaʊntɪnəns

## Meanings
1. a person's face or expression; to give support to

## Examples
- A shadow of grief crossed his countenance at the news.

## Synonyms
- face
- expression
- visage
- aspect
- mien
- support
- sanction

## Antonyms
- oppose
- forbid
- prohibit
- veto

## Related Forms
- contain
- content
- continent

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: contenance
- Root: continere

## Etymology
From Old French 'contenance' ('bearing, demeanor'), from Latin 'continentia' ('restraint, demeanor'), from 'continere' ('to hold together, contain').

## AI Etymology
Countenance is a noun and verb meaning "a person's face or expression; to give support to". Historically, it is from Old French 'contenance' ('bearing, demeanor'), from Latin 'continentia' ('restraint, demeanor'), from 'continere' ('to hold together, contain'). The historical chain links Old French contenance with Latin continere. Close English family members include contain, content, and continent. This keeps the modern noun and verb sense tied to the older forms and language sequence behind it.

## Topics
- People & Society

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countenance

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