contenir

• contindre

Borrowed from Latin continēre; adapted to inherited tenir.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [kun.təˈni]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [kon.təˈni]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [kon.teˈniɾ]

• Audio:

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• Rhymes: -i(ɾ)

contenir (first-person singular present continc, first-person singular preterite continguí, past participle contingut); root stress: (Central, Valencia, Balearic) /e/

1. to contain

Inherited from Old French contenir, borrowed from Latin continēre.

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃t.niʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

contenir

1. (transitive) to contain
2. (transitive) to contain, to hold back, to keep in check (to control)

   contenir ses émotions ― to contain one's emotions

3. (transitive) to hold, to take, to seat (to have a capacity of)

   Cette salle peut contenir deux cent personnes. ― This room can hold 200 people.

4. (reflexive)

This is a verb in a group of -ir verbs. All verbs ending in -tenir, such as retenir and détenir, are conjugated this way. Such verbs are the only verbs whose the past historic and subjunctive imperfect endings do not start in one of these thematic vowels (-a-, -i-, -u-).

• contenant
• conteneur
• contenu

• contenance
• content

• “contenir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• cuntenir

Borrowed from Latin continēre.

contenir

1. (reflexive, se contenir) to control oneself, to keep one's feelings and behavior in check
2. (reflexive, se contenir) to behave (in a given way)

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has a stressed present stem contien distinct from the unstressed stem conten, as well as other irregularities. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

• countenance

• English: contain
• French: contenir
• Norman: cont'nîn