contero

See also: conterò

Latin

Etymology

From con- +‎ terō.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈkon.te.roː/, [ˈkɔn̪t̪ɛroː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkon.te.ro/, [ˈkɔn̪t̪ero]

Verb

conterō (present infinitive conterere, perfect active contrīvī or contriī, supine contrītum); third conjugation

1. to grind or crush to pieces
2. to bruise or crumble
3. to wear down or away, consume

   Synonyms: hauriō, exhauriō, cōnsūmō, absūmō, terō, atterō, dēterō, tenuō, abūtor, ēnecō, adedō, peragō, accīdō, effundō

   • c. 4 BCE – 65 CE, Seneca the Younger, De brevitate vitae 15:

     Horum te mori nemo coget, omnes docebunt; horum nemo annos tuos conteret, suos tibi contribuet; nullius ex his sermo periculosus erit, nullius amicitia capitalis, nullius sumptuosa obseruatio.

     No one of these will force you to die, but all will teach you how to die; no one of these will wear out your years, but each will add his own years to yours; conversations with no one of these will bring you peril, the friendship of none will endanger your life, the courting of none will tax your purse.

4. to waste, squander

   Synonyms: abūtor, perdō, cōnsūmō, dissipō, effundō

Conjugation

• Forms like contrierit are less common than contrīverit.

Conjugation of conterō (third conjugation)
indicative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	conterō	conteris	conterit	conterimus	conteritis	conterunt
	imperfect	conterēbam	conterēbās	conterēbat	conterēbāmus	conterēbātis	conterēbant
	future	conteram	conterēs	conteret	conterēmus	conterētis	conterent
	perfect	contrīvī, contriī	contrīvistī, contriistī	contrīvit, contriit	contrīvimus, contriimus	contrīvistis, contriistis	contrīvērunt, contrīvēre, contriērunt, contriēre
	pluperfect	contrīveram, contrieram	contrīverās, contrierās	contrīverat, contrierat	contrīverāmus, contrierāmus	contrīverātis, contrierātis	contrīverant, contrierant
	future perfect	contrīverō, contrierō	contrīveris, contrieris	contrīverit, contrierit	contrīverimus, contrierimus	contrīveritis, contrieritis	contrīverint, contrierint
passive	present	conteror	contereris, conterere	conteritur	conterimur	conteriminī	conteruntur
	imperfect	conterēbar	conterēbāris, conterēbāre	conterēbātur	conterēbāmur	conterēbāminī	conterēbantur
	future	conterar	conterēris, conterēre	conterētur	conterēmur	conterēminī	conterentur
	perfect	contrītus + present active indicative of sum
	pluperfect	contrītus + imperfect active indicative of sum
	future perfect	contrītus + future active indicative of sum
subjunctive		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	conteram	conterās	conterat	conterāmus	conterātis	conterant
	imperfect	contererem	contererēs	contereret	contererēmus	contererētis	contererent
	perfect	contrīverim, contrierim	contrīverīs, contrierīs	contrīverit, contrierit	contrīverīmus, contrierīmus	contrīverītis, contrierītis	contrīverint, contrierint
	pluperfect	contrīvissem, contriissem	contrīvissēs, contriissēs	contrīvisset, contriisset	contrīvissēmus, contriissēmus	contrīvissētis, contriissētis	contrīvissent, contriissent
passive	present	conterar	conterāris, conterāre	conterātur	conterāmur	conterāminī	conterantur
	imperfect	contererer	contererēris, contererēre	contererētur	contererēmur	contererēminī	contererentur
	perfect	contrītus + present active subjunctive of sum
	pluperfect	contrītus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
imperative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	—	contere	—	—	conterite	—
	future	—	conteritō	conteritō	—	conteritōte	conteruntō
passive	present	—	conterere	—	—	conteriminī	—
	future	—	conteritor	conteritor	—	—	conteruntor
non-finite forms		active			passive
		present	perfect	future	present	perfect	future
infinitives		conterere	contrīvisse, contriisse	contrītūrum esse	conterī	contrītum esse	contrītum īrī
participles		conterēns	—	contrītūrus	—	contrītus	conterendus, conterundus
verbal nouns		gerund				supine
		genitive	dative	accusative	ablative	accusative	ablative
		conterendī	conterendō	conterendum	conterendō	contrītum	contrītū

Derived terms

• contrītiō

 

Descendants

• → English: contrite
• French: contrire
• Spanish: curtir
• Portuguese: curtir

References

• “contero”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “contero”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• contero
• contero in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to waste time on something: tempus terere, conterere (in) aliqua re