gainset
gainset verb: to set over against; oppose.
Verb
gainset (third-person singular simple present gainsets, present participle gainsetting, simple past and past participle gainset)
- To set over against; oppose.
- This humour aideth the vnderstanding with two qualities, and gainsetteth it selfe only with one.1594, Carew, Huarte's Examamination of Men's Wits vi. 73
- Sith I doe not take vpon mee but to write bare Annotations, I leaue it to the Readers conſideration, who may ſee, now more then euer, that the world continueth the building of Babel: that is, men madly gainſet their owne wiſedome and power againſt the wiſedome and power of God; […]1625, original 1584-1603, Guillaume de Saluste du Bartas, William Lisle, S. Goulart Senlisien, La Seconde Semaine, page 50
Forms of gainset
| third-person singular present | gainsets |
|---|---|
| present participle | gainsetting |
| past participle | gainset |
| past | gainset |
| alternative form | gain-set |
| alternative form | gaynset |
Origin of gainset
From Middle English gaynsetten, yensetten (also aȝeynesetten (“to oppose”)), equivalent to gain- + set. Cognate with archaic German gegensetzen (“to oppose”) (whence entgegensetzen), German Gegensatz (“opposition”).
Questions about gainset
- What does gainset mean?
- Gainset means to set over against; oppose.
- What part of speech is gainset?
- Gainset is a verb.
- What is the past tense of gainset?
- The past tense of gainset is gainset.
Words near gainset in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: gainset (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “gainset.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gainset. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.