Dictionary

contain en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Canada) audio
• /kənˈteɪn/
• kən-tānʹ

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin con- Proto-Indo-European *ten- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *tn̥eh₁yéti Proto-Italic *tenēō Latin teneō Latin contineōder. Latin continērelbor. Old French contenirbor. Middle English conteinen English contain From Middle English conteinen, borrowed from Old French contenir, from Latin continēre (“to hold or keep together, comprise, contain”), combined form of con- (“together”) + teneō (“to hold”).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To hold inside.
   • At half-past nine on this Saturday evening, the parlour of the Salutation Inn, High Holborn, contained most of its customary visitors. […] In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass. 1892, Walter Besant, chapter III, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:
   • The brown box contains three stacks of books.
   • [The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria,[…]. 2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
   • a spray bottle containing water.
2. (transitive) To include as a part.
   • Manganism has been known about since the 19th century, when miners exposed to ores containing manganese, a silvery metal, began to totter, slur their speech and behave like someone inebriated. 2014 April 21, “Subtle effects”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8884:
   • Most of the meals they offer contain meat.
3. (transitive) To put constraints upon; to restrain; to confine; to keep within bounds.
   • I'm so excited, I can hardly contain myself!
   • Fear not, my lord: we can contain ourselves. c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act INDUCTION, scene i]:
   • Athelstan Arundel walked home all the way, foaming and raging. No omnibus, cab, or conveyance ever built could contain a young man in such a rage. His mother lived at Pembridge Square, which is four good measured miles from Lincoln's Inn. 1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 16:
   • [The king's] only Person is oftentimes instead of an Army, to contain the unruly People from a thousand evil Occasions. 1596 (date written; published 1633), Edmund Spenser, A Vewe of the Present State of Irelande […], Dublin: […] Societie of Stationers, […], →OCLC; republished as A View of the State of Ireland […] (Ancient Irish Histories), Dublin: […] Society of Stationers, […] Hibernia Press, […] [b]y John Morrison, 1809, →OCLC:
   • There she goes / There she goes again / Racing through my brain / And I just can't contain / This feeling that remains 1988, Lee Mavers, “There She Goes”, in Sixpence None the Richer, performed by Sixpence None the Richer, published 1997:
4. (of a set etc., transitive) To have as an element or subset.
   • If that subgraph contains the vertex in question then it must be spanning.
   • A group contains a unique inverse for each of its elements.
5. (intransitive, obsolete) To restrain desire; to live in continence or chastity.
   • But if they cannot contain, let them marry. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Bible Corinthians/#8 1 Corinthians:8–9:

Forms

Antonyms

omit (antonym(s) of “include as part”) · exclude (antonym(s) of “include as part”) · release (antonym(s) of “limit by restraint”) · vent (antonym(s) of “limit by restraint”)

Deriveds

self-contain · containee · contain multitudes · melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cell · contain oneself

Relateds

containment · continence · containable · container · content

Synonyms

embody (include as part) · comprise (include as part) · restrain · repress · incorporate (include as part) · enclose (hold inside) · inhold (include as part) · control (limit by restraint) · restrict · inhold (hold inside) · stifle · curb

Translations (87)

es contener (limit through restraint) · cmn 包含 (hold inside) · kk сыйғызу (hold inside) · bg побирам (hold inside) · ar تَضَمَّنَ (hold inside) · cs obsahovat (hold inside) · nn innehalda (hold inside) · bg сдържам (limit through restraint) · oc conténer (hold inside) · es contener (hold inside) · bg въздържам (limit through restraint) · bg съдържам (include as a part) · sl vsebovati (hold inside) · grc χανδάνω (hold inside) · pt conter (limit through restraint) · he כלל (include as a part) · nl inhouden (hold inside) · fy ynhâlde (hold inside) · id mengandung (hold inside) · ca contenir (hold inside) · pt conter (hold inside) · it contenere (hold inside) · uk вміща́ти (hold inside) · he הכיל (hold inside) · de bergen (hold inside) · fi hillitä (hold inside) · sl obvladovati (limit through restraint) · sl vsebovati (include as a part) · ja 含む (hold inside) · fa دربرداشتن (hold inside) · gl conter (hold inside) · fi hillitä (limit through restraint) · nrf cont'nîn (limit through restraint) · sl obvladati (limit through restraint) · it contenere (include as a part) · sv innehålla (hold inside) · nrf cont'nîn (include as a part) · fy befetsje (hold inside) · ar اِحْتَوَى (limit through restraint) · pl zawierać (hold inside) · ca contenir (include as a part) · cmn 含有 (hold inside) · fr contenir (limit through restraint) · fi käsittää (include as a part) · ar اِحْتَوَى (include as a part) · eo enhavi (hold inside) · pt conter (include as a part) · fr contenir (hold inside) · de enthalten (include as a part) · sk obsahovať (hold inside) · nrf cont'nîn (hold inside) · cmn 含 (hold inside) · fi rajoittaa (hold inside) · it contenere (limit through restraint) · de beinhalten (include as a part) · la teneo (hold inside) · ro conține (hold inside) · el περιέχω (hold inside) · de enthalten (hold inside) · ca contenir (limit through restraint) · ru сде́рживать (limit through restraint) · id kandung (hold inside) · fi estää leviämästä (hold inside) · es contener (include as a part) · ro conține (include as a part) · da indeholde (hold inside) · pl zawierać (include as a part) · kk қамту (hold inside) · ru содержа́ть (hold inside) · io kontenar (hold inside) · cmn 蘊含 /蕴含 (hold inside) · ru сдержа́ть (limit through restraint) · ar اِحْتَوَى (hold inside) · es dominar (limit through restraint) · sv innehålla (include as a part) · fi rajata (hold inside) · fr contenir (include as a part) · mi roki (hold inside) · el περιέχω (include as a part) · ru вмеща́ть (hold inside) · sl vključevati (include as a part) · nl bevatten (hold inside) · ru содержа́ть (include as a part) · is innihalda (hold inside) · yi כּולל זײַן (include as a part) · de eingrenzen (limit through restraint) · fi sisältää (include as a part)