contener

Forms

contener (first-person singular present contengo, first-person singular preterite contuve, past participle contenido)^[1] Like tener it has the stem vowel ie when stressed (contienes), g in contengo, contenga and the preterite contuve;^[2][1] Autoridades already listed these irregularities.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin contineō (“to hold together; to contain”), which Corominas records first in the Fuero Juzgo of 1240.^[3][4][1] Vox calls it a popular word, from the sense “to keep together”, which led to “to take in, comprise”.^[5] The Latin verb is formed con- (“together”) + teneō (“to hold”), so literally “to hold together”, whence “to enclose” and “to restrain”.^[6][1][7]

The same Latin verb is Portuguese conter, Galician conter, Catalan contenir, French contenir and Italian contenere;^{[8][9][10][11]} Old Portuguese passed through a form conteer.^{[8][9][10][11]} The simple verb goes back to *tenē- and *tn-eh₁- (“to hold”).^[12] The learned continente and continencia are taken from the same Latin verb.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

DEMel's earliest record is contengamos in a Castilian charter of 1181.^[13] In Berceo's Del sacrificio de la misa (1228–1246) the priest prays for the Church en paz que la contenga “that He may keep it in peace”, the old sense “to keep, maintain”.^[14][15] A charter of 1240 has the modern sense: las altras cosas que se contienen enno testamento “the other things contained in the will”.^[14]

Semantic evolution

Old Spanish used contener for “to keep, maintain”: a lease of 1243 obliges the tenant to refazer e contener estas casas “repair and keep up these houses”.^[14] Salvá and Gaspar y Roig still listed “to maintain, preserve” as an old sense.^[16][17] The sense “to hold within” is in Alfonso X's Fuero Juzgo of about 1254, and the reflexive “to restrain oneself” in the General Estoria.^[18]

Autoridades gave three senses: to include or enclose, to hold back or stop, and to restrain or moderate (passions, a people).^[2] The Academy's dictionary keeps the same three today.^[4] Alemany and Malaret recorded a Chilean sense “to mean”.^[19][20]

Timeline

• 1181 – DEMel's earliest record, contengamos.^[13]
• 1202 – the Cortes de Benavente use contienen for holding land.^[14]
• 1228–1246 – Berceo uses it for “to keep, maintain” (in an early 14th-century copy).^[14]
• 1240 – a charter speaks of things that se contienen in a will;^[14] Corominas's first record, in the Fuero Juzgo, is of the same year.^[14][3]
• 1280 – the General Estoria uses the reflexive for “to restrain oneself”.^[18]
• 1528 – the first record from the Americas, in Nicaragua.^[21]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades gives the senses “include”, “hold back” and “restrain”.^[2]
• 1843 – the Academy records the phrase como en ello se contiene.^[22]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology, Latin continēre.^[23]
• 1917 – Alemany records the Chilean sense “to mean”.^[19]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, also reflexive) To contain, to hold or enclose within itself: el sobre contenía tres fotografías.^[4][1]
2. (transitive, also reflexive) To hold back or check the movement or force of a body: contener el avance del agua.^[4][24]
3. (transitive, also reflexive) To restrain or moderate a passion: no pudo contener la risa;^[1] contenerse, to control oneself.^[4][1]
4. (Chile) To mean.^[20]

Word family

• contenido
• contenedor
• incontenible

Related words

• continente
• tener
• Latin contineō
• English contain

Usage notes

The colloquial phrase como en ello se contiene affirms that something is exactly as stated.^[4][22]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 2, 550
3. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 461
4. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. contener
5. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. contener
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. contener
8. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 961
9. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. conter
10. ^ a b Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. contenir
11. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
13. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. contener
14. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. contener
15. ^ Lanchetas, Rufino (1900), Gramática y vocabulario de las obras de Gonzalo de Berceo, Madrid: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, p. 253
16. ^ Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá, p. 287
17. ^ Gaspar y Roig (eds.) (1853–1855), Biblioteca ilustrada de Gaspar y Roig: Diccionario enciclopédico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Imprenta y Librería de Gaspar y Roig, p. 1, 632
18. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. contener
19. ^ a b Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 441
20. ^ a b Malaret, Augusto (1946), Diccionario de americanismos, 3rd ed., Buenos Aires: Emecé, p. 255
21. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. contener
22. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 190
23. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 283
24. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. contener