In another thread (http://wordsmith.org/board/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=wordplay&Number=120544"withershins and deasil"), the German "wieder" meaning "again", and "wider" meaning "against" were mentioned. These two words share a common origin, even though the semantic connection is not obvious.

The English forms are parallel, but different - "again" and "against" were once interchangeable in use, as for example "among/amongst" or "while/whilst". Both come from the same root as German "gegen" meaning "against".

The French have "encore" for "again", which is surely a close relation of Italian "ancora". In turn "ancora" suggests a tempting interpretation of "anche ora": "also now", but another possibility may be something like "(ad) hanc horam" - "(to) this time" (or some other preposition that takes the accusative). None of these are related to "contra", which is the root for "against" in these languages. "Contra" itself is mystifyingly described by the OED as "abl. fem. of a compar from com, cum with", but it looks like it's from "cum" + [some 1st declension noun?]. Latin for "again" is "iterum" which means something like "going over", and is a cousin to English "other".

By the way, the French don't shout "encore" to request a repeat performance - they shout "bis", which is Greek.

The words "again" and "against" are themselves in use in three non-standard ways in Ireland.

First: Meaning "not now/later". A person may say "I'll visit him again" even if they haven't yet done so once!

Second: Meaning "before". Example: "You'd better finish your homework agin your father gets back". This one is listed by the OED as an archaic meaning of "against". Archaic it may be, but not extinct!

Third: Meaning "in case". Example: "We should buy a fire blanket agin the chip pan goes up".