Where does “contention” come from?
Contention comes from Middle English contencion, from Old French contencion, from Latin contentio meaning dispute or struggle, derived from contendere meaning to strive or contend.
contention (English): Argument, contest, debate, strife, struggle; A...
Definitions
- Argument, contest, debate, strife, struggle; A...
Ancestry of “contention”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | contencion | — |
| 2 | Old French | contencion | — |
| 3 | Latin | contentio | stretching, tension; competition, rivalry;... |
| 4 | Latin | contendere | third-person plural perfect active indicative of... |
| 5 | Latin | com- | allomorph of con- |
| 6 | Latin | con- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing... |
| 7 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 8 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 12 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 13 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 14 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 15 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 16 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 17 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 18 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |