countenance C2+ Topic:People & Society US /ˈkaʊntənəns/ UK /ˈkaʊntɪnəns/ See IPA manual 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... faceexpressionvisageaspectmiensupportsanction ↔ Opposites opposeforbidprohibitveto Word family Related forms containcontentcontinent Etymology AI details 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 External links Google Images Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary # countenance **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **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 markdown