contention

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English contencioun,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French contencion,^[3][4][5] and directly Latin contentiō (“a vigorous struggle, contest”),^[3][6][4] a noun of action from the past participle of contendō (“to strive, contend”),^[3][4][7] which is formed from con- and tendō (“to stretch”).^[8] The OED notes that Old French first had an inherited form, contençon, and that the English word follows the learned form.^[4][6] In Anglo-Norman the noun, as contençon, is recorded from the early 12th century, meaning strife, dispute, a fight and also violence or urgency.^[9] The English word is related to contend and contentious.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Strife, dissension, quarrelling: about 1384, in the Wycliffite Bible ("Perilous contencioun hadde hem").^[2][4][6]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word meant dissension and fighting, and also a particular quarrel or dispute.^[2][4] The 16th century added rivalry or competition (1576)^[4] and earnest striving or exertion (1583), a sense now archaic;^[4][3][10] a Latinism "contrast, comparison" was used for a time from 1530.^[4] The sense "the point one argues for", as in my contention is that…, is recorded from 1635.^[4][3] Johnson (1755) defined it first as "strife; debate; contest; quarrel" and quoted Shakespeare.^[11] The phrases bone of contention, the subject of a dispute, and in contention, still competing and able to win, keep the older senses alive.^[10][12]

Timeline

• c. 1384 – strife, dispute (Wycliffite Bible).^[4][2][6]
• a1500 – a particular quarrel or contest.^[4]
• 1530 – contrast, comparison (obsolete).^[4]
• 1576 – rivalry, competition.^[4]
• 1583 – earnest effort, exertion (now archaic).^[4]
• 1635 – the point a person argues for.^[4][3]
• 1883 – a tenson, a poem in the form of a debate.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A view or point put forward in an argument: Her contention was that the figures had been changed.
2. Dispute or disagreement; strife.
3. Competition or rivalry, especially in the phrase in contention, still competing with a chance of winning.
4. bone of contention: the subject of a quarrel.

Word family

• contentional
• noncontention
• bone of contention

Related words

• contend
• contender
• contentious
• tend
• tension

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins