Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1600-1700
Language: French
Origin: contraster, from Italian contrastare 'to stand out against, fight against', from Latin contra- ( CONTRA-) + stare 'to stand'

contrast

2 verb
     
con‧trast2
1 [intransitive] if two things contrast, the difference between them is very easy to see and is sometimes surprising
contrast with
The snow was icy and white, contrasting with the brilliant blue sky.
contrast sharply/strikingly with something (=be extremely different from something)
These results contrast sharply with other medical tests carried out in Australia.
2 [transitive] to compare two things, ideas, people etc to show how different they are from each other
contrast something with something
In another passage, Melville again contrasts the land with the sea.
an essay comparing and contrasting (=showing how two things are similar and different) Verdi and Wagner and their operas
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
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