English
contempt
Contempt comes from Latin contemptus ‘scorn’, and goes back to temnō ‘to despise’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtemnō1‘to despise’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcontemnō1‘to scorn, despise’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcontemptus1‘scorn’
- Englishearliest quotation 1918contempt1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English contempt
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1918, William Babington Maxwell, Indianapolis: “And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtemnōWiktionary, English contempt‘to despise’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcontemnōWiktionary, English contempt‘to scorn, despise’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcontemptusWiktionary, English contempt‘scorn’
- Englishearliest quotation 1918contemptWiktionary, English contempt. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1918, William Babington Maxwell, Indianapolis: “And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- ‘to cut’
atom, epitome, tome, templar, toma, dichotomous, tempestuous, 35 more
Today it means
noun The state or act of contemning; the feeling or attitude of regarding someone or something as inferior, base, or worthless; scorn, disdain.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “contempt”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin temnō / contempt