contempt English · revision 39874

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=a1393, J. Gower, Confessio Amantis|origins=la contemnō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /kənˈtɛmpt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|xno|contempt|t=open disrespect towards authority; scorn]] and its source [[la|contemptus|t=a despising, scorn]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Dictionary.com 2016) formed on the past participial stem of [[m|la|contemnō|t=to scorn, despise]].^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995)^(AHD 2024)^(Klein 1966)^(Hoad 1986) The Latin verb is formed from [[m|la|con-]], here perhaps intensive, and [[m|la|*temnō|t=to slight]], of uncertain origin;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) Barnhart notes that the classical [[m|la|temnō]] is an artificial form that poets abstracted from the compound.^(Barnhart 1995) De Vaan, cited by Etymonline, connects it with a root meaning "to cut", comparing [[mga|tamnaid|t=cuts]] and [[grc|τέμνω|tr=témnō|t=to cut]].^(Etymonline) In the Latin noun the ''n'' was lost and a ''p'' inserted.^(Dictionary.com 2016) The same verb gave [[contemn]].^(AHD 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A feeling that a person or thing is inferior, worthless or despicable: before 1393, in Gower's ''Confessio Amantis'',^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) in the phrase ''in contempt of''.^(OED 2026) Etymonline puts the sense "open disregard of authority" in the late 14th century and the general sense of scorn about 1400.^(Etymonline) The Anglo-Norman word already had the first of these by the late 13th century, often in law.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The legal sense, disobedience to the commands of the king or the authority of Parliament, is recorded in English from 1424,^(OED 2026) and ''contempt of court'', after the medieval Latin ''contemptus curiae'', from before 1579;^(OED 2026) Etymonline dates the phrase by 1719.^(Etymonline) The state of being despised, as in ''to bring into contempt'', appeared about 1430,^(OED 2026) an act showing scorn in 1502,^(OED 2026) and a person or thing deserving scorn in 1589, a use now rare.^(OED 2026) ''To hold someone in contempt'', in the sense of despising them, dates from before 1450, and in the sense of ruling them guilty of contempt of court from 1827.^(OED 2026) Johnson (1755) defined it as "the act of despising others; slight regard; scorn".^(Johnson 1755) A verb ''contempt'', to scorn, used from the 1550s, is now archaic.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a1393 – scorn, in Gower.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1424 – (law) disobedience to the monarch or Parliament.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1430 – the state of being despised.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1502 – an act of scorn.^(OED 2026)

+ * a1555 – the verb, to scorn (now archaic).^(OED 2026)

+ * a1579 – contempt of court.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1589 – an object of scorn.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1827 – to hold in contempt of court.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The feeling that someone or something is worthless or beneath respect; [[scorn]]: ''He spoke of his critics with open contempt.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # The state of being despised: ''The old regime had fallen into contempt.''^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # ''(law)'' Deliberate [[disobedience]] to or disrespect for a [[court]] or legislative body; in full ''contempt of court''.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[contemptible]]

+ * [[contemptuous]]

+ * [[self-contempt]]

+ * [[contempt of Congress]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[contemn]]

+ * [[scorn]]

+ * [[disdain]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ Dictionary.com distinguishes ''contempt'', ''disdain'' and ''scorn'', which all express strong disapproval of what seems base or worthless.^(Dictionary.com 2016) The phrase ''beneath contempt'' describes someone not worth even despising.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 2026)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}