Where does “contain” come from?
Contain comes from Old French contenir, from Latin continere, meaning to hold together, formed from the prefix com- and the verb tenere meaning to hold.
contain (English): To hold inside; To include as a part; To put...
Definitions
- To hold inside; To include as a part; To put...
Ancestry of “contain”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | contenir | to control oneself, to keep one's feelings and... |
| 2 | Latin | contineo | I hold or keep together/close, surround, contain;... |
| 3 | Latin | cōn- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing together of several objects |
| 4 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 5 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 9 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 10 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 11 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 12 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 13 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |