/ əˈpəʊnənt; NAmE əˈpoʊ-/ noun
1.
a person that you are playing or fighting against in a game, competition, argument, etc.
SYN adversary :
a political opponent
a dangerous / worthy / formidable opponent
The team's opponents are unbeaten so far this season.
2.
opponent (of sth) a person who is against sth and tries to change or stop it :
opponents of abortion
opponents of the regime
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WORD ORIGIN
late 16th cent. (denoting a person opening an academic debate by proposing objections to a philosophical or religious thesis): from Latin opponent- setting against, from the verb opponere , from ob- against + ponere place.