content English · revision 3253

+ English has two words spelled ''content'', both from Latin continēre “to contain”: the noun stressed on the first syllable, “what is contained”, and the adjective, verb and noun stressed on the second, “satisfied”.^(Cresswell 2021)^(AHD 2000)^(Barnhart 1988)

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+ {{homograph|1|what is contained}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1420, Lydgate|origins=la tenēre}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈkɒn.tent/, US /ˈkɑːn.tent/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ What is contained is [[inh|enm|content]], contents,^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) [[bor|la-med|contentum|t=thing contained]] (plural contenta “things contained”),^(AHD 2000)^(Hoad 1986)^(COED 2004) the neuter past participle of [[la|continēre|t=to hold together, contain]],^(AHD 2000)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|la|com-|t=together]] and [[m|la|tenēre|t=to hold]],^(Etymonline) from [[ine-pro|*ten-|t=to stretch]].^(Etymonline) It is related to [[contain]].^(AHD 2000)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The singular is recorded before 1420, in Lydgate's ''Troy Book'', and the plural ''contents'' probably before 1425.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The things treated in a book or document, its contents, are from 1509,^(OED 1989) and a ''table of contents'' from 1481.^(OED 1989) The amount of a substance contained, as in ''fat content'', is from 1901.^(OED 1989) The American Heritage Dictionary also gives the meaning or significance of a literary or artistic work.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1420 – what is contained.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1481 – ''table of contents''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1509 – the contents of a book.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1901 – the amount of a substance contained.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(usually plural)'' The things that are inside something.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(usually plural)'' The subjects or chapters in a book.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # The subject matter or meaning of a written or artistic work.^(AHD)

+ # The amount of a substance in something: ''the sugar content''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[contents]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|satisfied}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1400|origins=la tenēre}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kənˈtent/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The adjective, “satisfied”, is [[inh|enm|content]],^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|content|t=satisfied]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) from [[la|contentus|t=contained; satisfied, self-contained]], the past participle of [[m|la|continēre|t=to hold together, restrain]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(Barnhart 1988) The verb is from Middle French contenter and Medieval Latin contentāre, both from contentus.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The noun “contentment” is from the adjective.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The adjective: probably before 1400^(Barnhart 1988) or about 1400, literally “held within limits”, hence “having one's desires limited to what one has”.^(Etymonline) The verb: 1418,^(Barnhart 1988) the early 15th century.^(Etymonline)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The link between “contained” and “satisfied” is probably that a contented person's wishes are bounded by what they already have.^(Etymonline) The noun, a state of satisfaction, is from the 1570s (1579),^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and ''to one's heart's content'' from the 1590s, in Shakespeare.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In Rutland dialect ''to content oneself'' meant “to settle down”.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1400 – adjective, satisfied.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1418 – verb, to satisfy.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1579 – noun, satisfaction.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1590s – ''heart's content''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Happy with what one has; [[satisfied]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Willing to accept something: ''content to wait''.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make content; to satisfy.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # Contentment: ''to one's heart's content''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[contented]]

+ * [[contentment]]

+ * [[discontent]]

+ * [[malcontent]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[contain]]

+ * [[continent]]

+ * [[continue]]

+ * [[tenant]]

+ * [[tenet]]

+ * [[detain]]

+ * [[retain]]

+ * [[sustain]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}