contention

From Middle English contencion, borrowed from Old French contencion, from Latin contentio, contentionem, from contendō (past participle contentus); equivalent to contend +‎ -tion (similar formation to attention).

• IPA^(key): /kənˈtɛnʃən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: con‧ten‧tion

contention (countable and uncountable, plural contentions)

1. Argument, contest, debate, strife, struggle.
2. A point maintained in an argument, or a line of argument taken in its support; the subject matter of discussion of strife; a position taken or contended for.

   It is my contention that state lotteries are taxes on stupid people.

3. (computing, telecommunications) Competition by parts of a system or its users for a limited resource.

• gainstrife, gainstriving, wrangling

• (computing) resource contention

• contention on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “contention”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “contention”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Borrowed from Latin contentiō.

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.tɑ̃.sjɔ̃/

contention f (plural contentions)

1. (intellectual) disposition, effort

   contention d'esprit ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. dispute, contention

   Synonyms: débat, dispute

3. (medicine) immobilization, (psychiatry) restraint

• contentieux

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

Borrowed from Latin contentio, contentionem. Cf. the inherited form contençon, and see also tençon.

contention oblique singular, f (oblique plural contentions, nominative singular contention, nominative plural contentions)

1. dispute; quarrel; disagreement

• contendre
• contençon
• tençon

• English: contention
• French: contention