Contention

How to spell contention

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce contention

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does contention mean?

1. nounHeated disagreement or argument between people or groups.
2. nounA position or claim that someone puts forward and argues for.

Contention in a sentence

• The parking policy became a source of contention among the tenants.

• Her central contention was that the report had ignored the cost data.

• Years of bitter contention divided the two branches of the family.

• It is my contention that the contract was signed under duress.

Where does contention come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This noun comes from the Latin contentio, meaning a stretching, an effort, or a verbal struggle. It was built on the verb contendere, which combined con- (an intensifying prefix meaning 'together' or 'thoroughly') with tendere, meaning 'to stretch'. The literal image is of straining or stretching oneself, which naturally extended to striving against an opponent and then to quarrelling in words. English took the word in during the 1300s by way of Old French contencion, keeping the sense of dispute and rivalry. The same tendere root stretches through a whole family of English words, including 'tension', 'extend', and 'tendon', and that shared 'tend' core is the reliable spine to anchor the spelling of contention.

How the word is built

• con- (together)
• tend (from Latin tendere: to stretch, strive)
• -ion (noun-forming suffix)