in rhetoric, a figure which sets two things in opposition to each other. The word is Greek, compounded of ἀντί, against, and μεταβολή, from μεταβάλλω, I shift or transfer; i.e., a shifting, or setting two things over-against each other. This figure is twice exemplified in an apophthegm of Mucianus; which, on account of its excellence, is called aureum monimentum, the golden maxim or precept.