Where does “malcontent” come from?
Malcontent comes from Middle French malcontent, formed from Middle French content, derived from Latin contentus, the past participle of Latin continere meaning to hold together or contain.
malcontent (English): Dissatisfied with current conditions;...
Definitions
- Dissatisfied with current conditions;...
Ancestry of “malcontent”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | malcontent | unhappy |
| 2 | Middle French | content | happy; satisfied; content |
| 3 | Old French | content | — |
| 4 | Latin | contentus | stretched, strained, tense, tight, on the... |
| 5 | Latin | contineo | I hold or keep together/close, surround, contain;... |
| 6 | Latin | cōn- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing together of several objects |
| 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,... |