contenere

Forms

contenere (first-person singular present contèngo, first-person singular past historic conténni or contènni, past participle contenùto, first-person singular future conterrò, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin contineō (“to hold together, contain”), formed from teneō (“to hold”) with con-, and refashioned on tenere.^[2][3][4][5] In Latin the ⟨e⟩ of the simple verb had regularly become ⟨i⟩ in the open inner syllable.^[6] DELI calls the Italian verb a learned word, while Nocentini counts it among inherited words and DEI and the GDLI start from a Late Latin contenēre, a recomposition of the classical verb.^[2][3][7][8] The same verb is French contenir, recorded in the 12th century, and Spanish contener.^[3][7]

The Latin simple verb goes back with tendō (“to stretch”) to the root Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to stretch”).^[3][9] Contenitore “container” as a noun is modelled on English container.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a Capua charter of 960, with the sense “to hold, contain, comprise”.^[2][10][4]

Semantic evolution

The sense “to restrain, hold back” is in Iacopone before 1306.^[2] Old Italian used the verb, besides, for keeping something within limits, governing, abstaining and, reflexively, for living chastely.^[10] The past participle contenuto “contained” is in Dante; as a noun it meant “what is contained” in Tasso (1580) and “the subject of a writing” in Annibal Caro (before 1566).^[2] Contegno “bearing” comes from the old variant contegnere.^[3]

DEI explains the military use “to contain the enemy”, from 1916, as a calque of German einhalten.^[7] Contenitore was an adjective in Leonardo (before 1519) and became the noun “container” in 1963.^[2]

Timeline

• 960 – a Capua charter has the verb.^[2][10]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone uses it for “to restrain”.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses the participle contenuto.^[2]
• Before 1519 – Leonardo uses the adjective contenitore.^[2]
• Before 1566 – Annibal Caro uses contenuto for the subject of a writing.^[2]
• 1916 – the military sense “to hold back the enemy” is recorded.^[7]
• 1963 – contenitore “container” is recorded as a noun.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To hold, have inside, have room for: La sala contiene trecento posti.^[4][11][5]
2. Of a writing, to have as its subject, deal with.^[4][11][12]
3. To be made up of, include: Il sangue contiene ferro.^[4]
4. To restrain, hold back (feelings): contenere la rabbia.^[4][11][5]
5. To halt, hold back (an attack, a flood): contenere l'avanzata dei carri.^[4][11][12]
6. To limit, keep down: contenere i costi.^[4][11][5]
7. (medicine) To immobilise (a fracture, a hernia).^[4][12][13]
8. (mathematics) Of a set, to include another set all of whose elements belong to it.^[11][14]
9. (reflexive, contenersi) To control oneself; to keep within limits;^[11][5][12] (uncommon) to behave.^[11][5][12]

Word family

• contenuto
• contenitore
• contenimento
• contenente
• contenzione
• contenutismo
• contenutista
• contenutistico
• contegno

Related words

• tenere
• continente
• contento
• Latin contineō
• French contenir

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1075
8. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
14. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)