contentus Latin · revision 6287

16 Oct 2026, 06:23 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
Initial text

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus|origins=la teneō}}
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [kɔnˈtɛn.tʊs]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [konˈtɛn.tus]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''contentus''' (feminine contenta, neuter contentum, comparative contentior, superlative contentissimus, adverb contentē); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is the perfect participle of [[contineō]] “to hold together, contain”, used as an adjective: “holding oneself in, satisfied”.^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Köbler's first source for this sense is Plautus, whom he dates c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant content, satisfied, with an ablative “content with”, as Cicero's ''parvō contentus'' “content with little”.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Of things it meant self-sufficient, and ''sē contentus'' “self-contained”, as in Cicero.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant content, satisfied.^(Stelten 1995) In Medieval Latin it also meant contained in a thing, and the neuter plural ''contenta'' the contents.^(Niermeyer 1976) It survives in French ''content'', Italian ''contento'' and Romanian ''content''.^(Wiktionary) [[en|content]] came in the early 15th century through Old French and Medieval Latin.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses ''parvō contentus''.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * early 15th century – English ''content'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Adjective===
+ # [[m|en|Content]], satisfied (with).^(OLD 2012)
+ # Self-sufficient, ''sē contentus'', self-contained.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Contained, ''contenta'', contents.^(Niermeyer 1976)
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[contineō]]
+ * [[contendō]]
+ * [[en|content]]
+ 
+ ==Usage notes==
+ A different ''contentus'', the participle of [[contendō]], meant strained, tense, as Cicero's ''contentīs corporibus'' “with bodies tensed”.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}