descontento

Forms

descontento (feminine descontenta, masculine plural descontentos, feminine plural descontentas)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish des- + contento.^[2][1] The DRAE of 2001 described it instead as the obsolete irregular participle of descontentar, and Alemany derived it from that verb;^[3][4] Corominas dates the adjective earlier than the verb.^[3][4][5][6] The second element is from Latin contentus (“contained; content, satisfied”), originally the participle of contineō (“to hold together, contain”).^[5][1] French mécontent and Italian scontento are formed in the same way.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective is first recorded in Díaz de Gámez, between 1431 and 1450.^[5][6] The noun “discontent” follows in 1604, in Sandoval.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Autoridades quotes Sandoval's history of Charles V for the noun, and Mendoza's Guerra de Granada for the adjective, pero yá descontenta “but now discontented”; it also gave a political sense, the disloyal man who is dissatisfied with the government.^[8] It recorded the proverb No hay mayor mal que el descontento de cada cual “there is no greater ill than each man's discontent”, which the Academy kept until 1869.^[8][9] Cuervo documents the absolute use and the constructions with de and con from Saint Teresa and Mendoza on.^[10] In the Americas the word appears from 1567, in Chile.^[11] Today the noun often refers to the discontent of a whole community.^[12]

Timeline

• 1431–1450 – Díaz de Gámez, the first record of the adjective.^[5][6]
• 1495 – Nebrija records the verb descontentar.^[5][6]
• 1567 – first record from the Americas, in Chile.^[11]
• 1604 – Sandoval, the first record of the noun.^[5][6]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades gives the noun, the adjective and the proverb.^[8]
• 1884 – the Academy allows the adjective as a noun.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. discontented, dissatisfied with something or someone; also as a noun: Los vecinos están descontentos con el nuevo horario.^[2][1][12]

Noun

1. discontent, displeasure, dissatisfaction: El descontento crecía en los barrios.^[2][1][12]

Related words

• contento
• descontentar
• contener
• Latin contentus

Usage notes

The person or thing that causes the discontent is introduced by con or de: descontento con su suerte, descontento de sí mismo.^[10][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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. descontento
3. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. descontento
4. ^ a b c Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 556
5. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 181
6. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. contento
7. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 1, 631
8. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 138
9. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 260
10. ^ a b Cuervo, Rufino José (1886–1893), Diccionario de construcción y régimen de la lengua castellana, vols. I–II (A–D), París: A. Roger y F. Chernoviz, p. 2, 1017
11. ^ a b 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. descontento
12. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. descontento
13. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 360