counterpart
Americannoun
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a person or thing closely resembling another, especially in function.
Our president is the counterpart of your prime minister.
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a copy; duplicate.
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Law. a duplicate or copy of an indenture.
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one of two parts that fit, complete, or complement one another.
noun
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a person or thing identical to or closely resembling another
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one of two parts that complement or correspond to each other
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a person acting opposite another in a play
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a duplicate, esp of a legal document; copy
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of counterpart
late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; see origin at counter-, part
Explanation
If you leap tall buildings in a single bound for the Des Moines branch of your corporation, then your Metropolis counterpart might be Superman. That means you and Superman do similar jobs, but in different locations. The noun counterpart comes from the French word countre part, meaning “duplicate of a legal document.” In legal circles counterpart still means "a duplicate document," but today it is more likely to describe people. Counterparts aren't duplicates, of course, but they have similar skills and responsibilities. If you play soccer, your counterpart is the player on the other team who plays the same position.
Vocabulary lists containing counterpart
Against All Odds: Contra and Counter
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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
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List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who discussed the deal during his first overseas trip to the region in April 2025 with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, who will also sign the deal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
It comes ahead of a meeting in Washington between US President Donald Trump and his Lebanese counterpart, Joseph Aoun.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
The Alex will screen the movie in 70mm, which uses the same film stock as Imax 70mm but runs vertically instead of horizontally, making each physical frame roughly three times smaller than its Imax counterpart.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander recently met French counterpart Phillippe Tabarot to call for a pragmatic approach to EES checks.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
Of course, just as I think that, one of the vines snags my leg as it reaches for its counterpart on the other side.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
Once, diplomatic counterparts who controlled huge sums were regarded warily by U.S. diplomats.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
Proponents say French sugar beet, apple and hazelnut farmers need the insecticides -- forbidden in France since 2018 and 2019 respectively -- to help them compete with their European counterparts.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
Use of Chinese models, which are far cheaper than U.S. counterparts, is surging at U.S. companies, prompting some investors to question the staying power of top model-makers such as Anthropic and OpenAI.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
However, skyrocketing demand for Kimi K3 suggests that Chinese AI models may be just as compute-hungry as their Western counterparts.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
Back in Europe, Maskelyne and his counterparts in Germany and France were forced to the conclusion that the transit measurements of 1761 were essentially a failure.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.