contemn

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 20, 2009 is: contemn • \kun-TEM\ • verb : to view or treat with contempt : scorn Examples: Jacob believes that any rational scientist must contemn theories of magic and the supernatural. Did you know? "Contemn" is derived from the Latin verb "contemnere," a word formed by combining "con-" and "temnere" ("to despise"). Surprisingly, our verb may have come within a hair's breadth of being spelled "contempn." The Middle French word "contempner" arrived in Middle English as "contempnen," but that extra "p" disappeared, leaving us with "contemn." You may be wondering about the connection between "contemn" and "contempt," and not surprisingly, they are related. "Contempt" comes from Latin "contemptus," which comes from "contemnere." "Contemn" first turned up in print in the 15th century; "contempt" dates from the 14th century. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.