contemptuous (English)

Where does "contemptuous" come from?

The English adjective 'contemptuous' was formed by combining the English suffix '-ous' with the Latin word 'contemptus'[1]. In Latin, 'contemptus' was derived from the verb 'contemnō', meaning 'I despise'[2]. Linguists trace 'contemnō' back to an earlier nasal-infix verb rooted in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European base '*temh₁-'[3].

Open questions

• The exact relationship between the Latin verbs 'contemnō' and 'temnō' remains uncertain, though 'temnō' is considered likely to be a back-formation from 'contemnō'. [3]
• The derivation of 'contemnō' from a nasal-infix form of the reconstructed root '*temh₁-' is proposed but not definitively established. [3]

Full etymology tree

• contemptuous (English), 'Showing contempt; expressing disdain; showing a lack of respect.'
  • affix contemptus (Latin), 'despised, despicable'
    • derived contemno (Latin), 'to scorn, despise, show contempt'
      • derived *temh₁- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to cut'
  • suffix -ous (English), 'Used to form adjectives from nouns, to denote:'

Ancestors

• contemptus (Latin)
• ous (English)

Descendants and derived words

• contemptuosity (English)
• contemptuously (English)
• contemptuousness (English)
• uncontemptuous (English)

Sources

1. contemptuous (English) - Wiktionary
2. contemptus (Latin) - Wiktionary
3. contemno (Latin) - Wiktionary

Updated October 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris