contentment (n.)

mid-15c., contentement, "satisfactory payment" (of a debt; a sense now obsolete), from Old French contentment, from contenter (see content (v.)). Meaning "That happiness which consists in being satisfied with present conditions" is from 1590s.

Contentment is passive; satisfaction is active. The former is the feeling of one who does not needlessly pine after what is beyond his reach, nor fret at the hardship of his condition; the latter describes the mental condition of one who has all he desires, and feels pleasure in the contemplation of his situation. A needy man may be contented, but can hardly be satisfied. [Century Dictionary]

also from mid-15c.

Entries linking to contentment

content (v.)

early 15c., "to rest or be satisfied; to give satisfaction to," from Old French contenter (from content (adj.) "satisfied") and Medieval Latin contentare, both from Latin contentus "contained; satisfied," past participle of continere "to hold together, enclose," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + tenere "to hold" (from PIE root *ten- "to stretch").

Sense connection of "contained" and "satisfied" probably is that the contented person's desires are bound by what he or she already has. Related: Contented; contenting.

Trends of contentment

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to Explore

satisfy

The intransitive sense of "give satisfaction or contentment" is from c. 1600....

satisfaction

The sense of "contentment, appeasement" is from late 14c. but was not common before 16c....

school

[place of instruction] Middle English scole, from Old English scol, "institution for instruction," from Latin schola "meeting place for teachers and students, place of instruction;" also "learned conversation, debate; lecture; disciples of a teacher, body of followers, sect," als

destiny

mid-14c., "fate, over-ruling necessity, the irresistible tendency of certain events to come about; inexorable force that shapes and controls lives and events;" also "that which is predetermined and sure to come true," from Old French destinée "purpose, intent, fate, destiny; that

integrity

c. 1400, integrite, "innocence, blamelessness; chastity, purity," from Old French integrité and directly from Latin integritatem (nominative integritas) "soundness, wholeness, completeness," figuratively "purity, correctness, blamelessness," from integer "whole" (see integer). Th

Easter

Old English Easterdæg, "Easter day," from Eastre (Northumbrian Eostre), from Proto-Germanic *austron-, "dawn," also possibly the name of a goddess whose feast was celebrated in Eastermonað (the Anglo-Saxon month corresponding with April), from *aust- "east, toward the sunrise" (c

mitigate

early 15c., "relieve (pain); make mild or more tolerable; reduce in amount or degree," from Latin mitigatus, past participle of mitigare "soften, make tender, ripen, mellow, tame," figuratively, "make mild or gentle, pacify, soothe," ultimately from mitis "gentle, soft" + root of

secretary

late 14c., secretarie, "person entrusted with secrets or private and confidential matters" (a sense now obsolete), from Medieval Latin secretarius "clerk, notary, scribe; confidential officer, confidant," a title applied to various confidential officers, noun use of an adjective

gloss

"glistening smoothness, luster," 1530s, probably from Scandinavian (compare Icelandic glossi "a spark, a flame," related to glossa "to flame"), or obsolete Dutch gloos "a glowing," from Middle High German glos; probably ultimately from the same source as English glow (v.). Superf

perspective

late 14c., perspectif, "the science of optics," from Old French perspective and directly from Medieval Latin perspectiva ars "science of optics," from fem. of perspectivus "of sight, optical" from Latin perspectus "clearly perceived," past participle of perspicere "inspect, look

Share contentment

‘cite’

Page URL:

https://www.etymonline.com/word/contentment

HTML Link:

<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/contentment">Etymology of contentment by etymonline</a>

APA style:

Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of contentment. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved $(datetime), from https://www.etymonline.com/word/contentment

Chicago style:

Harper Douglas, “Etymology of contentment,” Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed $(datetime), https://www.etymonline.com/word/contentment.

MLA style:

Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of contentment.” Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/contentment. Accessed $(datetimeMla).

IEEE style:

D. Harper. “Etymology of contentment.” Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/contentment (accessed $(datetime)).

updated on March 14, 2018

Remove ads >

Dictionary entries near contentment

contender

content

contented

contention

contentious

contentment

contents

conterminous

conterraneous

contessa

contesseration