contento

Forms

contento (feminine contenta, masculine plural contenti, feminine plural contente, superlative contentissimo)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin contentus (“contained; content, satisfied”), the past participle of contineō (“to hold together, contain, keep within bounds”), which also gave contenere.^[2][3][4][1] DELI explains the sense: someone “contento” holds himself within set limits and wants nothing more.^[2][5] The Latin adjective already meant “satisfied with” something.^[6][7]

The word is found across the Romance languages except Romanian: Dalmatian kontiant, Sardinian kontentu, French content, Occitan content and Catalan content.^[8][3][9] DEI and Meyer-Lübke think that Spanish contento and Portuguese contente came from Catalan.^[9][8] The Latin verb is con- added to teneō (“to hold”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Parlamenti of Guido Faba, written at Bologna about 1243, in the sense “satisfied, needing nothing more”.^[10] DELI dates “satisfied” to Iacopo da Leona, before 1277, who wrote “Contento a lei servir sta chi con tene” (he who is with you is content to serve her).^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian essere or stare contento also meant “to consent, to agree”, especially in notarial documents, and a party could declare himself formally satisfied (contento e confesso).^[10] The sense “glad, cheerful” is recorded in Dante, between 1304 and 1308.^[2] Dante's State contenti, umana gente, al quia (be content, mankind, with the “that”) keeps the old construction stare contento a, “to be satisfied with”.^[4][11]

The verb contentare “to satisfy”, from a Late Latin gloss word, is recorded in Dante;^[2][3] contentezza “contentment” follows in Machiavelli (1513–1521), and contentino, a little extra given to keep someone happy, before 1855 in Rosmini.^[2] Accontentare is recorded from 1762.^[3] German borrowed the adjective as content in 1472–1473.^[12] Popular phrases include contento come una Pasqua “as happy as Easter” and the fairy-tale ending e vissero felici e contenti.^[4][13][5]

Timeline

• c. 1243 – Guido Faba uses contento at Bologna.^[10]
• Before 1277 – Iacopo da Leona uses the word for “satisfied”.^[2]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses it for “glad” and uses contentare.^[2]
• 1306 – The noun contento “contentment” appears in Giordano da Pisa.^[10]
• 1472–1473 – German content is borrowed from Italian.^[12]
• 1513–1521 – Contentezza is recorded in Machiavelli.^[2]
• 1762 – Accontentare is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. satisfied, pleased, having what one wants (with di and a noun or infinitive): Il professore è contento dei progressi della classe.^{[4][11][5][13]}
2. Also ironically: Hai perso le chiavi un'altra volta: sarai contento!^[4][11][14]
3. glad, happy, cheerful: Siamo contenti che siate arrivati sani e salvi.^[4][11][5]
4. Showing contentment: un sorriso contento.^[4][11]
5. (literary) essere, stare contento a qualcosa: to make do with something.^[4][11]

Word family

• contentare
• accontentare
• contentezza
• contentino
• scontento
• scontentare
• scontentezza
• contentone

Related words

• contenere
• contenuto
• Latin contentus
• French content

Usage notes

Italian has three other words spelled contento, all nouns.^[4][7] The literary contento “contentment, joy” is formed from contentare and is recorded from 1306.^[4][10][5] An obsolete contento “what is contained, content” is a learned use of Latin contentus and is found in Dante.^[15][4] Another obsolete contento, also written contempto, meant “contempt”, from Latin contemptus.^[15][9][1] A cuor contento is an easy-going optimist.^[13][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
10. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ a b c d e f 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 Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
13. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 648