Auto-antonyms

[Linguaphile]

This discussion in the true false friends thread gave me the idea for a thread for words that mean the opposite of themselves.
If you know any words in any language that can mean both one thing and its own opposite, please post them here!

(For grammatical reasons there are quite a few in Estonian with adjectives that have etymologically related noun/verb pairings, and I've heard it said in books by Zora O'Neill and Tim McIntosh-Smith that there are also a lot in Arabic.)


inflammable unable to be set on fire
inflammable easily set on fire


cleave to split apart from
cleave to adhere to


distendido relaxed, calm
distendido bloated, swollen due to pressure inside


distender to relax or reduce the tension of something
distender to cause tension (in tissue, membranes, etc)
.

värvitud colorless
värvitud colored, painted


litsentsitud licensed
litsentsitud unlicensed


plaanitud planned
plaanitud unplanned


pilvitus cloudlessness
pilvitus cloudiness


kiletama to cover with film
kiletama to peel film off of


بصير observant, sighted, discerning
بصير blind


أضب to speak
أضب to remain silent


اندمل to heal
اندمل to fester

[Naava]

nonplussed surprised, confused, and not certain how to react
nonplussed unfazed, unaffected, or unimpressed

The latter is mostly used in the US but I find it funny anyway.

[Linguaphile]

nonplussed surprised, confused, and not certain how to react
nonplussed unfazed, unaffected, or unimpressed

The latter is mostly used in the US but I find it funny anyway.

I hadn't thought of that one; it's a good one to add to the list.
I'm usually nonplussed when I come across it.

[vijayjohn]

I suppose these examples are somewhat deliberately ironic, and I'm not quite sure whether these work in other varieties of English, but:

bad
bad - good

sick - disgusting
sick - awesome

[TheStrayCat]

Not exactly but almost.

X is shit - X is really bad
X is the shit - X is really good

[vijayjohn]

I thought of shit vs. the shit, too! That's apparently also possible with bomb vs. the bomb.

[Linguaphile]

apprendre to teach
apprendre to learn

aufbinden to tie (on/up)
aufbinden to untie

lease to borrow for a specified time
lease to lend for a specified time

laenama to borrow
laenama to lend

limosnero beggar, panhandler, person who asks for charity)
limosnero charitable person, almoner, person who distributes charity)

[Naava]

laenama to borrow
laenama to lend

Also
lainata to borrow
lainata to lend

Although... I hadn't thought of these as auto-antonyms but as one word describing an action (object is given from person A to person B and then back to A). I actually used to find it rather confusing that English has two different words for it! Then there's also to loan! Took me a long time to learn what the difference between these three was.

[vijayjohn]

There's a difference between lend and loan?

[Linguaphile]

laenama to borrow
laenama to lend

Also
lainata to borrow
lainata to lend

Although... I hadn't thought of these as auto-antonyms but as one word describing an action (object is given from person A to person B and then back to A). I actually used to find it rather confusing that English has two different words for it! Then there's also to loan! Took me a long time to learn what the difference between these three was.

It's not uncommon in colloquial language for people to say, for example, "can you borrow me a pencil", so I think English speakers sometimes have this same feeling. (Plus, the fact that lease is used with both meanings. When I posted here, I was actually thinking there were a lot of languages that use the same word for both "lend" and "borrow" like English does with "lease" and Finnic does with "laenama"/"lainata", but when I posted I couldn't think of any other concrete examples, so maybe I'm wrong there.)

There's a difference between lend and loan?

"Lend" and "loan" as verbs are usually synonyms in colloquial American English (except in set phrases like "to lend a hand"; you couldn't say "can you loan me a hand"). In British English "to lend" is considered more proper than "to loan" in most contexts (except when loaning items to museums and that sort of thing) and some American English speakers prefer that usage too, thinking it sounds more "proper" or "formal".

[h34]

laenama to borrow
laenama to lend

Also
lainata to borrow
lainata to lend

(aus)leihen to borrow
(aus)leihen to lend

------
Edit: adding "borgen", which has the same two meanings:
borgen to borrow
borgen to lend



to borrow something from someone
= (sich) von jemandem¹ etwas² (aus)leihen / borgen

to lend someone something
= jemandem¹ etwas² (aus)leihen / borgen

¹ dative
² accusative

[vijayjohn]

leren - to learn
leren - to teach

Similarly in some varieties of English, at least in the US:
learn
learn - teach

[nijk]

sanction - to give effective or authoritative approval or consent to
sanction - to attach a sanction or penalty to the violation of (a right, obligation, or command)

ovvero - that is, in other words, namely
ovvero - or

While the former is by far the most common meaning nowadays, the latter can still be found in bureaucratese.

ospite - guest
ospite - host

Again, nowadays the most common meaning is "guest" but technically it can mean "host" too.

[Luís]

logo immediately, right away
logo later, later on, after a while

ficar to remain, to stay, to stay the same
ficar to become, to change, to alter

[cHr0mChIk]

مولى mawla – master
مولى mawla – slave

صاحب ṣāḥib – commander, master, owner
صاحب ṣāḥib – follower, companion, adherent

حرام ḥarām – prohibited, forbidden, unlawful, wrong
حرام ḥarām – sacred, holy
(there is also a third different meaning of the same root – protection)

[cHr0mChIk]

laenama to borrow
laenama to lend

Also
lainata to borrow
lainata to lend

(aus)leihen to borrow
(aus)leihen to lend

pozajmiti to borrow
pozajmiti to lend

apprendre to teach
apprendre to learn

leren - to learn
leren - to teach

učiti to learn
učiti to teach

[h34]

Edit 1: Deleted.
Edit 2: Thanks for spotting this, it definitely doesn't belong here. Where was my brain...

[nijk]

тöв winter (cognate with talv)
тöв wind (cognate with tuul)

I don't see why winter is the opposite of wind 🤔

[h34]

anhalten to stop ¹
anhalten to continue ²

¹ Das Auto hält an. The car stops.
² Der Regen hält an. The rain continues.

[nijk]

affittare - to rent out
affittare - to rent