countenance
verb/ˈkaʊntənəns/
/ˈkaʊntənəns/
(formal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they countenance | /ˈkaʊntənəns/ /ˈkaʊntənəns/ |
| he / she / it countenances | /ˈkaʊntənənsɪz/ /ˈkaʊntənənsɪz/ |
| past simple countenanced | /ˈkaʊntənənst/ /ˈkaʊntənənst/ |
| past participle countenanced | /ˈkaʊntənənst/ /ˈkaʊntənənst/ |
| -ing form countenancing | /ˈkaʊntənənsɪŋ/ /ˈkaʊntənənsɪŋ/ |
- countenance something | countenance (somebody) doing something to support something or agree to something happening synonym consent to
- The committee refused to countenance his proposals.
Oxford Collocations DictionaryCountenance is used with these nouns as the object:- possibility
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French contenance ‘bearing, behaviour’, from contenir, from Latin continere, from con- ‘altogether’ + tenere ‘to hold’. The early sense was ‘bearing, demeanour’, also ‘facial expression’, hence ‘the face’.Want to learn more?
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countenance