contumely

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Pronunciation 1.3 Noun 1.3.1 Translations

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From Old French contumelie, from Latin contumēlia (“‘insult’”), perhaps from com- + tumeō (“‘swell’”).

[edit] Pronunciation

• IPA: /'kɒntju:m(ə)li/

[edit] Noun

contumely (countable and uncountable; plural contumelies)

1. Rude language or behaviour; scorn, insult.
   • 1594, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark:

     For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,

     The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely.

   • 1976, Robert Nye, Falstaff:

     I could think of no words adequate to the occasion. So I belched. Not out of contumely, you understand. It was a sympathetic belch, a belch of brotherhood.

[edit] Translations