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encounter

/ɪnˈkaʊntə/ noun

In Latin: nanciscor, invenio Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about encounter at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. A minor short-term fight.
  2. A casual or unexpected convergence.
    he still remembers their meeting in Paris
  3. A casual meeting with a person or thing.

verb

  1. Come together.
    I'll probably see you at the meeting
  2. Come upon, as if by accident; meet with.
    We find this idea in Plato
  3. Be beset by.
    The project ran into numerous financial difficulties

Origin

From Middle English encountren, from Anglo-Norman encountrer, Old French encontrer (“to confront”), from encontre (“against, counter to”), from Late Latin incontrā (“in front of”) itself from Latin in (“in”) + contrā (“against”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)