Contagious adjective [ Latin contagiosus : confer French contagieux .]
1. (Medicine) Communicable by contact, by a virus, or by a bodily exhalation; catching; as, a contagious disease.

2. Conveying or generating disease; pestilential; poisonous; as, contagious air.

3. Spreading or communicable from one to another; exciting similar emotions or conduct in others.

His genius rendered his courage more contagious .
Wirt.

The spirit of imitation is contagious .
Ames.

Syn. -- Contagious , Infectious . These words have been used in very diverse senses; but, in general, a contagious disease has been considered as one which is caught from another by contact, by the breath, by bodily effluvia, etc.; while an infectious disease supposes some entirely different cause acting by a hidden influence, like the miasma of prison ships, of marshes, etc., infecting the system with disease. "This distinction, though not universally admitted by medical men, as to the literal meaning of the words, certainly applies to them in their figurative use. Thus we speak of the contagious influence of evil associates; their contagion of bad example, the contagion of fear, etc., when we refer to transmission by proximity or contact. On the other hand, we speak of infection by bad principles, etc., when we consider anything as diffused by some hidden influence.

Contagious disease (Medicine) A disease communicable by contact with a patient suffering from it, or with some secretion of, or object touched by, such a patient. Most such diseases have already been proved to be germ diseases, and their communicability depends on the transmission of the living germs. Many germ diseases are not contagious, some special method of transmission or inoculation of the germs being required.

Contagiously adverb In a contagious manner.

Contagiousness noun Quality of being contagious.

Contagium noun [ Latin ] Contagion; contagious matter. " Contagium of measles." Tyndall.

Contain transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Contained ; present participle & verbal noun Containing .] [ Middle English contenen , conteinen , French contenir , from Latin continere , -tentum ; con- + tenere to hold. See Tenable , and confer Countenance .]
1. To hold within fixed limits; to comprise; to include; to inclose; to hold.

Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can not contain thee; how much less this house!
2 Chron. vi. 18.

When that this body did contain a spirit.
Shak.

What thy stores contain bring forth.
Milton.

2. To have capacity for; to be able to hold; to hold; to be equivalent to; as, a bushel contains four pecks.

3. To put constraint upon; to restrain; to confine; to keep within bounds. [ Obsolete, exept as used reflexively.]

The king's person contains the unruly people from evil occasions.
Spenser.

Fear not, my lord: we can contain ourselves.
Shak.

Contain intransitive verb To restrain desire; to live in continence or chastity.

But if they can not contain , let them marry.
1 Cor. vii. 9.

Containable adjective Capable of being contained or comprised. Boyle.

Containant noun A container.

Container noun One who, or that which, contains.

Containment noun That which is contained; the extent; the substance. [ Obsolete]

The containment of a rich man's estate.
Fuller.

Contaminable (kŏn*tăm"ĭ*nȧ*b'l) adjective Capable of being contaminated.

Contaminate (kŏn*tăm"ĭ*nāt) transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Contaminated ; present participle & verbal noun Contaminating .] [ Latin contaminatus , past participle of contaminare to bring into contact, to contaminate, from contamen contagion, for contagmen ; con- + root of tangere to touch. See Contact .] To soil, stain, or corrupt by contact; to tarnish; to sully; to taint; to pollute; to defile.

Shall we now
Contaminate our figures with base bribes?
Shak.

I would neither have simplicity imposed upon, nor virtue contaminated .
Goldsmith.

Syn. -- To pollute; defile; sully; taint; tarnish; soil; stain; corrupt.

Contaminate (-nat) adjective Contaminated; defiled; polluted; tainted. " Contaminate drink." Daniel.

Contamination (kŏn*tăm`ĭ*nā"shŭn) noun [ Latin contaminatio .] The act or process of contaminating; pollution; defilement; taint; also, that which contaminates.

Contamitive (kŏn*tăm"ĭ*nȧ*tĭv) adjective Tending or liable to contaminate.

Contango (kŏn*tăn"go) noun ; plural Contangoes . [ Prob. a corruption of contingent .]
1. (Stock Exchange) The premium or interest paid by the buyer to the seller, to be allowed to defer paying for the stock purchased until the next fortnightly settlement day. [ Eng.]

2. (Law) The postponement of payment by the buyer of stock on the payment of a premium to the seller. See Backwardation . N. Biddle.

Conte noun ; plural Contes . [ French] A short narrative or tale, esp. one dealing with surprising or marvelous events.

The conte (sic) is a tale something more than a sketch, it may be, and something less than a short story. . . . The "Canterbury Tales" are contes , most of them, if not all, and so are some of the "Tales of a Wayside Inn."

Brander Matthews.

Contection (-tĕk"shŭn) noun [ Latin contegere , -tectum , to cover up.] A covering. [ Obsolete] Sir T. Browne.

Contek (kŏn"tĕk) noun [ Middle English conteck , conteke , contake , perhaps a corruption either of contact or contest .]
1. Quarrel; contention; contest. [ Obsolete]

Contek with bloody knife.
Chaucer.

2. Contumely; reproach. [ Obsolete] Wyclif.

Contemn (kŏn*tĕm") transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Contemned (- tĕmd); present participle & verbal noun Contemning (-tĕm"nĭng or -tĕm"ĭng).] [ Latin contemnere , -temptum ; con- + temnere to slight, despise: confer Old French contemner .] To view or treat with contempt, as mean and despicable; to reject with disdain; to despise; to scorn.

Thy pompous delicacies I contemn .
Milton.

One who contemned divine and human laws.
Dryden.

Syn. -- To despise; scorn; disdain; spurn; slight; neglect; underrate; overlook. -- To Contemn , Despise , Scorn , Disdain . Contemn is the generic term, and is applied especially to objects, qualities, etc., which are deemed contemptible, and but rarely to individuals; to despise is to regard or treat as mean, unbecoming, or worthless; to scorn is stronger, expressing a quick, indignant contempt; disdain is still stronger, denoting either unwarrantable pride and haughtiness or an abhorrence of what is base.

Contemner (kŏn*tĕm"nẽr or -tĕm"ẽr) noun One who contemns; a despiser; a scorner. " Contemners of the gods." South.

Contemningly adverb Contemptuously. [ R.]

Contemper (kŏn*tĕm"pẽr) transitive verb [ Latin contemperare , - temperatum ; con- + temperare to temper. Confer Contemperate .] To modify or temper; to allay; to qualify; to moderate; to soften. [ Obsolete]

The antidotes . . . have allayed its bitterness and contempered its malignancy.
Johnson.

Contemperate (kŏn*tĕm"pẽr*āt) transitive verb [ See Contemper .] To temper; to moderate. [ Obsolete]

Moisten and contemperate the air.
Sir T. Browne.

Contemperation (-ā"shŭn) noun
1. The act of tempering or moderating. [ Obsolete] Sir T. Browne.

2. Proportionate mixture or combination. " Contemperation of light and shade." Boyle.

Contemperature (- tĕm"pẽr*ȧ*tur; 135) noun The condition of being tempered; proportionate mixture; temperature. [ Obsolete]

The different contemperature of the elements.
South.

Contemplance noun Contemplation. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Contemplant adjective [ Latin contemplans , present participle] Given to contemplation; meditative. [ R.] Coleridge.

Contemplate transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Contemplated (# or #); present participle & verbal noun Contemplating .] [ Latin contemplatus , past participle of contemplari to contemplate; con- + templum a space for observation marked out by the augur. See Temple .]
1. To look at on all sides or in all its bearings; to view or consider with continued attention; to regard with deliberate care; to meditate on; to study.

To love, at least contemplate and admire,
What I see excellent.
Milton.

We thus dilate
Our spirits to the size of that they contemplate .
Byron.

2. To consider or have in view, as contingent or probable; to look forward to; to purpose; to intend.

There remain some particulars to complete the information contemplated by those resolutions.
A. Hamilton.

If a treaty contains any stipulations which contemplate a state of future war.
Kent.

Syn. -- To view; behold; study; ponder; muse; meditate on; reflect on; consider; intend; design; plan; propose; purpose. See Meditate .

Contemplate intransitive verb To consider or think studiously; to ponder; to reflect; to muse; to meditate.

So many hours must I contemplate .
Shak.

Contemplation noun [ French contemplation , Latin contemplatio .]
1. The act of the mind in considering with attention; continued attention of the mind to a particular subject; meditation; musing; study.

In contemplation of created things,
By steps we may ascend to God.
Milton.

Contemplation is keeping the idea which is brought into the mind for some time actually in view.
Locke.

2. Holy meditation. [ Obsolete]

To live in prayer and contemplation .
Shak.

3. The act of looking forward to an event as about to happen; expectation; the act of intending or purposing.

In contemplation of returning at an early date, he left.
Reid.

To have in contemplation , to inted or purpose, or to have under consideration.

Contemplatist noun A contemplator. [ R.] I. Taylor.

Contemplative adjective [ French contemplatif , Latin contemplativus .]
1. Pertaining to contemplation; addicted to, or employed in, contemplation; meditative.

Fixed and contemplative their looks.
Denham.

2. Having the power of contemplation; as, contemplative faculties. Ray.

Contemplative noun (R. C. Ch.) A religious or either sex devoted to prayer and meditation, rather than to active works of charity.

Contemplatively adverb With contemplation; in a contemplative manner.

Contemplativeness noun The state of being contemplative; thoughtfulness.

Contemplator noun [ Latin ] One who contemplates. Sir T. Browne.

Contemporaneity noun The state of being contemporaneous.

The lines of contemporaneity in the oölitic system.
J. Philips.

Contemporaneous adjective [ Latin contemporaneus ; con- + tempus time. See Temporal , and confer Contemporaneous .] Living, existing, or occurring at the same time; contemporary.

The great age of Jewish philosophy, that of Aben Esra, Maimonides, and Kimchi, had been contemporaneous with the later Spanish school of Arabic philosophy.
Milman

-- Con*tem`po*ra"ne*ous*ness , noun

Contemporaneously adverb At the same time with some other event.

Contemporariness noun Existence at the same time; contemporaneousness. Howell.

Contemporary adjective [ Prefix con- + Latin temporarius of belonging to time, tempus time. See Temporal , and confer Contemporaneous .]
1. Living, occuring, or existing, at the same time; done in, or belonging to, the same times; contemporaneous.

This king [ Henry VIII.] was contemporary with the greatest monarchs of Europe.
Strype.

2. Of the same age; coeval.

A grove born with himself he sees,
And loves his old contemporary trees.
Cowley.

Contemporary noun ; plural Contemporaries One who lives at the same time with another; as, Petrarch and Chaucer were contemporaries .

Contempt noun [ Latin contemptus , from contemnere : confer Old French contempt . See Contemn .]
1. The act of contemning or despising; the feeling with which one regards that which is esteemed mean, vile, or worthless; disdain; scorn.

Criminal contempt of public feeling.
Macaulay.

Nothing, says Longinus, can be great, the contempt of which is great.
Addison.

2. The state of being despised; disgrace; shame.

Contempt and begarry hangs upon thy back.
Shak.

3. An act or expression denoting contempt.

Little insults and contempts .
Spectator.

The contempt and anger of his lip.
Shak.

4. (Law) Disobedience of the rules, orders, or process of a court of justice, or of rules or orders of a legislative body; disorderly, contemptuous, or insolent language or behavior in presence of a court, tending to disturb its proceedings, or impair the respect due to its authority.

» Contempt is in some jurisdictions extended so as to include publications reflecting injuriously on a court of justice, or commenting unfairly on pending proceedings; in other jurisdictions the courts are prohibited by statute or by the constitution from thus exercising this process.

Syn. -- Disdain; scorn; derision; mockery; contumely; neglect; disregard; slight.

Contemptibility noun The quality of being contemptible; contemptibleness. Speed.

Contemptible adjective
1. Worthy of contempt; deserving of scorn or disdain; mean; vile; despicable. Milton.

The arguments of tyranny are as contemptible as its force is dreadful.
Burke.

2. Despised; scorned; neglected; abject. Locke.

3. Insolent; scornful; contemptuous. [ Obsolete]

If she should make tender of her love, 't is very possible he 'll scorn it; for the man . . . hath a contemptible spirit.
Shak.

Syn. -- Despicable; abject; vile; mean; base; paltry; worthless; sorry; pitiful; scurrile. See Contemptuous . -- Contemptible , Despicable , Pitiful , Paltry . Despicable is stronger than contemptible , as despise is stronger than contemn . It implies keen disapprobation, with a mixture of anger. A man is despicable chiefly for low actions which mark his life, such as servility, baseness, or mean adulation. A man is contemptible for mean qualities which distinguish his character, especially those which show him to be weak, foolish, or worthless. Treachery is despicable , egotism is contemptible . Pitiful and paltry are applied to cases which are beneath anger, and are simply contemptible in a high degree.

Contemptibleness noun The state or quality of being contemptible, or of being despised.

Contemptibly adverb In a contemptible manner.

Contemptuous adjective Manifesting or expressing contempt or disdain; scornful; haughty; insolent; disdainful.

A proud, contemptuous behavior.
Hammond.

Savage invective and contemptuous sarcasm.
Macaulay.

Rome . . . entertained the most contemptuous opinion of the Jews.
Atterbury.

Syn. -- Scornful; insolent; haughty; disdainful; supercilious; insulting; contumelious. -- Contemptuous , Contemptible . These words, from their similarity of sound, are sometimes erroneously interchanged, as when a person speaks of having "a very contemptible opinion of another." Contemptible is applied to that which is the object of contempt; as, contemptible conduct; a contemptible fellow. Contemptuous is applied to that which indicates contempt; as, a contemptuous look; a contemptuous remark; contemptuous treatment. A person, or whatever is personal, as an action, an expression, a feeling, an opinion, may be either contemptuous or contemptible ; a thing may be contemptible , but can not be contemptuous .