Counterpart
/ˈkaʊn.tə.pɑːt/noun
A person or thing that corresponds to or complements another.
Did you know?The word entered English from legal and diplomatic use, where a document could be made in a “counterpart,” meaning an identical copy kept by the other party, and the sense of a matching person or thing came later.
Etymological Timeline
Late Old French
OF
countrepartie
“a corresponding part; matching share; duplicate copy”
Middle English
ME
counterpart
“an equal or matching portion or copy”
16th Century
English
counterpart
“a duplicate document or matched section, especially in legal use”
18th Century
English
counterpart
“a person or thing that corresponds to another”
Modern English
English
counterpart
“a person or thing that has the same function or position as another in a different context”