"C" Word Origins

consulate

Latin

From Latin consulatus, "the office of consul," from consul + -atus.

consult

Latin

From Old French consulter, ultimately from Latin consulere, "to deliberate, take counsel."

consultant

French

From French consultant, present participle of consulter, "to consult."

consultation

Latin

From Latin consultatio, "a deliberation." Morphologically consult + -ation.

consultative

Origin

From Latin-type *cōnsultātīvus (probably used in Medieval Latin), from cōnsultāt-, past participial stem of cōnsultō, + -īvus. By surface analysis, consult + -ative.

consume

Latin

From Old French consumer, from Latin consumere, "to use up," from con- ("with, together") + sumere ("to take").

consumer

Origin

From consume + the agent-forming suffix -er.

consumerism

Origin

From consumer + the noun-forming suffix -ism.

consummate

Latin

From Latin consummatus, past participle of consummare, "to sum up, complete," from con- ("together") + summa ("a sum, total").

consummation

Latin

From Latin consummatio, from consummare ("to complete").

consumption

Latin

From Latin consumptio, from consumere ("to consume"). Equivalent to consume + -tion.

contact

Latin

From Latin contactus, "a touching," from contingere, "to touch on all sides."

contagion

Latin

From Old French, from Latin contagio, "a touching, contagion," related to contingere ("to touch closely").

contagious

Late Latin

From Old French contagieus, from Late Latin contagiosus, from contagio ("contagion").

contain

Latin

From Old French contenir, from Latin continēre, "to hold together" — con- ("together") + tenēre ("to hold").

container

Middle English

From Middle English conteyner — contain + the agent suffix -er.

containment

Origin

From contain + the noun-forming suffix -ment.

contaminable

Origin

From Latin contāminābilis.

contaminate

Latin

From Latin contaminare, "to corrupt or defile by mixing," from contaminatus, the past participle of the same verb.

contamination

Latin

From Latin contaminationem, from contaminare, "to defile or corrupt."

conte

Latin

From Italian conte, a doublet of the English words comte and count — all tracing back to the same Latin root.

contemn

Origin

From Middle English contempnen, from Old French contemner, from Latin contemnō (“to scorn”). See also contempt.

contemplate

Latin

From Latin contemplari, "to observe or gaze at attentively" — the root also behind "template."

contemplation

Latin

From Old French contemplation, from Latin contemplatio, built from contemplate + -ion.

contemplational

Origin

From contemplation + -al.

contemplative

Origin

From Middle English contemplatyve, contemplatyf, from Old French contemplatif, from Latin contemplātīvus.

contemporaneous

Origin

From Latin contemporāneus (“contemporary”), from con- (“with”) + tempus (“time”) + -aneus (“of or pertaining to”) (compare Late Latin temporāneus (“opportune, timely”)).

contemporary

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin contemporarius, from Latin con- ("together") + temporarius, from tempus ("time").

contemporize

Origin

From contemporary + -ize.

contempt

Latin

From Latin "contemptus," from "contemnere," to scorn or despise.

contemptible

Latin

From Middle English contemptible, from Latin contemptibilis.

contemptuous

Latin

From Latin contemptus ("contempt") plus the adjective-forming suffix -ous.

contend

Latin

From Old French contendre, from Latin contendere, "to stretch out, strive" — con- ("together") + tendere ("to stretch"), related to "tend," "extend," and "intend."

contender

Origin

From contend + the agent suffix -er.

content

Latin

From Latin contentus, "contained; satisfied," the past participle of continēre ("to contain").

contention

Latin

From Old French contencion, from Latin contentio, built from contendere ("to contend") + -tion.

contentious

Latin

From Middle French contentieux, from Latin contentiosus ("quarrelsome"), related to contentio ("contention").

contentment

Middle French

From Middle French contentement, built from content + -ment.

contentness

Origin

From content + -ness.

contessa

Italian

From Italian contessa, a doublet of the English word "countess."

contest

Latin

From French contester, from Latin contestor, "to call to witness" (used originally in launching a lawsuit).

contestant

French

From French contestant, the present participle of contester ("to contest").

context

Latin

From Latin contextus, "a joining together, connection," related to contexere ("to weave together").

contiguity

Origin

From French contiguïté (whence -ity), from Late Latin contiguitās, from Latin contiguus (“bordering upon”), from contingō (“to touch or border upon”).

contiguous

Latin

From Latin contiguus 'touching, bordering', from contingere 'to touch, to be in contact', formed from con- 'together' and tangere 'to touch'.

continence

Origin

Dated from the 14th century as Middle English contynence, from Old French continence, from Latin continentia (“a repression”). See also countenance.

continent

Latin

From Latin continens, "holding together, unbroken," the present participle of continēre ("to contain, hold together").

continental

Origin

From continent + the adjective-forming suffix -al.