contemner

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English contemn

Proto-Indo-European *-yósder.

Proto-Italic *-āzijos

Latin -āriusnom.

Latin -āriusbor.

Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz

Proto-West Germanic *-ārī

Old English -ere

Middle English -ere

English -er

English contemner

From contemn + -er.

Noun

contemner (plural contemners)

1. One who contemns, who displays contempt towards another.
   • ante 1588: Thomas Cartwright (probably), A Reproofe of Certeine Schismatical Persons, in Cartwrightiana (1951; edited by Albert Peel and Leland Henry Carlson), page 244 (George Allen & Unwin Ltd., Routledge; →ISBN, 0415319897)

     Præsumptuous violators or contemners of the sabbath or holie exercises /.

   • 1861 November, Julia Ward Howe, “Battle Hymn of the Republic”, in The Atlantic Monthly, Volume IX, Number LII (February 1862), page 10:

     I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel: / “As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal; / […] ”

   • 1908, Henry James, chapter VIII, in The Portrait of a Lady (The Novels and Tales of Henry James), New York edition, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC; republished as The Portrait of a Lady (EBook #283), United States: Project Gutenberg, 1 September 2001:

     From all of which Isabel gathered that Lord Warburton was a nobleman of the newest pattern, a reformer, a radical, a contemner of ancient ways.

Translations

Translations

• French: contempteur (fr) m, contemptrice (fr) f

  Middle French: contemnateur m, contempteur m, contemptrice f

• Latin: contemptor m, contemptrix f

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French contemner, from Latin contemnere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.tɛm.ne/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Verb

contemner

1. (transitive, dated) to contemn

   Synonym: mépriser

Conjugation

Conjugation of contemner (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	contemner
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	contemnant /kɔ̃.tɛm.nɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		contemné /kɔ̃.tɛm.ne/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	contemne /kɔ̃.tɛmn/	contemnes /kɔ̃.tɛmn/	contemne /kɔ̃.tɛmn/	contemnons /kɔ̃.tɛm.nɔ̃/	contemnez /kɔ̃.tɛm.ne/	contemnent /kɔ̃.tɛmn/
	imperfect	contemnais /kɔ̃.tɛm.nɛ/	contemnais /kɔ̃.tɛm.nɛ/	contemnait /kɔ̃.tɛm.nɛ/	contemnions /kɔ̃.tɛm.njɔ̃/	contemniez /kɔ̃.tɛm.nje/	contemnaient /kɔ̃.tɛm.nɛ/
	past historic2	contemnai /kɔ̃.tɛm.ne/	contemnas /kɔ̃.tɛm.na/	contemna /kɔ̃.tɛm.na/	contemnâmes /kɔ̃.tɛm.nam/	contemnâtes /kɔ̃.tɛm.nat/	contemnèrent /kɔ̃.tɛm.nɛʁ/
	future	contemnerai /kɔ̃.tɛm.nə.ʁe/	contemneras /kɔ̃.tɛm.nə.ʁa/	contemnera /kɔ̃.tɛm.nə.ʁa/	contemnerons /kɔ̃.tɛm.nə.ʁɔ̃/	contemnerez /kɔ̃.tɛm.nə.ʁe/	contemneront /kɔ̃.tɛm.nə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	contemnerais /kɔ̃.tɛm.nə.ʁɛ/	contemnerais /kɔ̃.tɛm.nə.ʁɛ/	contemnerait /kɔ̃.tɛm.nə.ʁɛ/	contemnerions /kɔ̃.tɛm.nə.ʁjɔ̃/	contemneriez /kɔ̃.tɛm.nə.ʁje/	contemneraient /kɔ̃.tɛm.nə.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	contemne /kɔ̃.tɛmn/	contemnes /kɔ̃.tɛmn/	contemne /kɔ̃.tɛmn/	contemnions /kɔ̃.tɛm.njɔ̃/	contemniez /kɔ̃.tɛm.nje/	contemnent /kɔ̃.tɛmn/
	imperfect2	contemnasse /kɔ̃.tɛm.nas/	contemnasses /kɔ̃.tɛm.nas/	contemnât /kɔ̃.tɛm.na/	contemnassions /kɔ̃.tɛm.na.sjɔ̃/	contemnassiez /kɔ̃.tɛm.na.sje/	contemnassent /kɔ̃.tɛm.nas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	contemne /kɔ̃.tɛmn/	—	contemnons /kɔ̃.tɛm.nɔ̃/	contemnez /kɔ̃.tɛm.ne/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• contemnement

Related terms

• contempteur
• contemption
• contemptrice

Further reading

• “contemner”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012
• “contemner”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Middle French

Etymology

From Latin contemnere.

Verb

contemner

1. (transitive) to contemn

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of contemner

infinitive	simple	contemner
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	contemnant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		contemné
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	contemne	contemnes	contemne	contemnons	contemnez	contemnent
	imperfect	contemnois, contemnoys	contemnois, contemnoys	contemnoit, contemnoyt	contemnions, contemnyons	contemniez, contemnyez	contemnoient, contemnoyent
	past historic	contemna	contemnas	contemna	contemnasmes	contemnastes	contemnerent
	future	contemnerai, contemneray	contemneras	contemnera	contemnerons	contemnerez	contemneront
	conditional	contemnerois, contemneroys	contemnerois, contemneroys	contemneroit, contemneroyt	contemnerions, contemneryons	contemneriez, contemneryez	contemneroient, contemneroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	contemne	contemnes	contemne	contemnons	contemnez	contemnent
	imperfect	contemnasse	contemnasses	contemnast	contemnassions	contemnassiez	contemnassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	contemne	—	contemnons	contemnez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Derived terms

• contemnateur
• contemnement

Related terms

• contempteur
• contemption
• contemptrice

Descendants

• French: contemner

Further reading

• contemner on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)