conter

Forms

conter (first-person singular present contenho, first-person singular preterite contive, past participle contido)^[1] Old Galician-Portuguese wrote contẽer.^[1] Houaiss records comteer, comtener and cõter in the 15th century, and Cunha contener.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin contineō (“to hold together; to contain”), written Old Galician-Portuguese contẽer in the oldest texts.^[1][2][3] Nascentes derives the modern form through that old form, with the Latin /n/ between vowels lost, as in ter.^[4][1]

The same Latin verb is Galician conter, Spanish contener, Italian contenere and French contenir.^[5][1] It is a compound of con- (“together”) and teneō (“to hold”).^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lorenzo's earliest records are the participle in a charter of 1286, como e conteudo en hũa carta “as is contained in a letter”, and the Fuero Real, where a prisoner is to be kept de pan e d'agua “on bread and water” for up to nine days.^[7] Viterbo explains the old conter as “to maintain, to provide someone with what he needs”, and quotes a Latin document of 1171 with ut contineam vos “that I may keep you”.^[8] Medieval Latin continere also meant “to nourish, sustain”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The old sense of maintaining someone fell out of use.^[8] Cardoso (1569) and Pereira (1697) translate the verb with Latin contineo, Pereira adding cohibeo “to restrain”.^[10][11] Bluteau (1712–1728) gives “to enclose, comprise” and the reflexive conter-se “to restrain oneself”, and Folqman (1755) separates the two senses.^[12][13] Both senses are still in use, with the noun conteúdo, recorded from the 13th century.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1171 – a Latin document has ut contineam vos “that I may keep you”.^[8]
• 1286 – the participle conteudo in a charter.^[7]
• 13th century – Houaiss's and Cunha's date for the verb.^[2][3]
• 15th century – the spellings comteer, comtener and cõter.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso lists Conter.^[10]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau records conter-se “to restrain oneself”.^[12]
• 1813 – Morais defines the verb as “to include, enclose” and “to restrain”.^[14]

Meanings

Verb

1. To hold back, to stop from advancing: Os bombeiros contiveram o incêndio.^[2][15]
2. To restrain or repress;^[16] (reflexive) to control oneself: Ela conteve a raiva.^[2][16]
3. To contain, to have within; to include: A caixa contém fotografias antigas.^[2][1]
4. To have room for, to hold (a quantity): A garrafa contém dois litros.^[2][17]
5. (reflexive) To consist in.^[2]
6. (reflexive) To remain, to keep oneself (in a state).^[2][18]

Word family

• conteúdo

Related words

• continente
• continência
• ter
• Latin contineō
• Spanish contener

Usage notes

The verb is conjugated like ter: contenho, contive, past participle contido.^[1] The Cantigas de Santa Maria also have a verb conter meaning “to happen”, related to contir and acontecer.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. conter
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. conter
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. conter
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 133
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. contineō
7. ^ a b c Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. conter
8. ^ a b c Viterbo, Joaquim de Santa Rosa de (1798–1799), Elucidario das palavras, termos e frases que em Portugal antiguamente se usárão, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 306
9. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. continere
10. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. conter
11. ^ Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. conter
12. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. conter
13. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. conter
14. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 457
15. ^ Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. conter
16. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. conter
17. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 2394
18. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. conter