Contentment

How to spell contentment

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce contentment

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does contentment mean?

1. nounA state of quiet happiness and satisfaction with one's situation.

Contentment in a sentence

• A steady job and a warm home gave her a deep sense of contentment.

• After years of striving, he finally found contentment in a simpler routine.

Where does contentment come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb continere, meaning 'to hold together' or 'to contain', formed from con- 'together' and tenere 'to hold'. Its past participle contentus came to mean 'satisfied', carrying the idea of a desire that is held within and needs nothing more, much as a container that is full needs no further filling. English took the adjective 'content' from Old French during the late 1300s, and the noun 'contentment' was built later, around the 1500s, by adding the French and Latin noun-forming suffix -ment to express the state of being content. The same tenere root sits inside everyday words such as 'contain', 'detain', and 'tenant', which all share the sense of holding. The link to 'contain' is a useful spelling cue: contentment holds the full word 'content' inside it before the -ment ending.

How the word is built

• content- (from Latin contentus: satisfied, contained)
• -ment (noun suffix denoting a state or result)