Sŭb-cŏn′tra-ry1, a.
a. [Prefix sub and contrary.] 1. Contrary in an inferior degree.
Sense 2. (Geom.) Having, or being, in a contrary order; —said of a section of an oblique cone on a circular base by a plane not parallel to the base, but inclined to the axis, so that the section is a circle; —applied also to two similar triangles when so placed as to have a common angle at the vertex, the opposite sides not being parallel. Brande.
Sense 3. (Logic.) Characterizing the relation of opposition between the particular affirmative and particular negative; also, applied to the relation between two attributes which co-exist in the same substance, yet in such a way that the more there is of one, the less there is of the other.