contemn
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English contempnen, from Old French contemner, from Latin contemnere (“to scorn”). See also contempt.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
contemn (third-person singular simple present contemns, present participle contemning, simple past and past participle contemned)
- (transitive, archaic) To disdain; to value at little or nothing; to treat or regard with contempt.
- c. 1620s, Elizabeth Cary [misattributed to Henry Cary], “The Preface”, in The History Of the most unfortunate Prince King Edward II. […] , London: A.G. and F. P., published 1680, page A3, verso:
- The subject of the following History [...] is the unhappy Lives, and untimely Deaths, of that Unfortunate English King Edward the Second, and his two Favourites Gaveston and Spencer; for his immoderate love to whom, (Says Dr. Heylin) he was hated by the Nobles, and contemned by the Commons.
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXI, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 171:
- The change which had so suddenly elevated Charles Stuart to the throne of his ancestors, and, from a poor, wandering, and powerless exile, made him one of Europe's most powerful monarchs, had taken the various courts where he had sojourned, neglected, if not contemned, completely by surprise.
- 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, “11”, in The Moon and Sixpence:
- I was perturbed by the suspicion that the anguish of love contemned was alloyed in her broken heart with the pangs, sordid to my young mind, of wounded vanity.
- (law) To commit an offence of contempt, such as contempt of court; to unlawfully flout (e.g. a ruling).
Synonyms edit
- despise, scorn
- See also Thesaurus:despise
Antonyms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
to treat or regard with contempt
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