contempt
/kənˈtɛmpt/noun
Scornful disregard for someone or something
From Latin com- (With) + Latin, probably from Proto-Indo-European temnō (To slight).
Lineage
com-
temnō
The story
Picture a Roman speaker adding com-—normally a friendly “with” or “together”—to a verb meaning “to slight.” In this combination, the prefix seems to turn up the volume: not merely ignoring someone, but treating them as beneath notice. The deeper history is less tidy; one leading proposal connects Latin temnō with PIE *tmn, “to cut,” as though contempt began with the image of cutting someone down, while the exact route remains disputed. By the late fourteenth century, English contempt could describe open disregard for authority, and by 1719 “contempt of court” had acquired its familiar legal sense. So when a judge holds someone in contempt, the old cutting metaphor is still faintly present: respect has been sliced away.
Words from the same roots
com- · Latin, ‘With, together; sometimes intensifying’
Derivedcombine, community, companion, accompany, conjoin, concord
temnō · Latin, probably from Proto-Indo-European, ‘To slight, scorn, or despise; possibly connected with “cut”’
Derivedcontempt, contemn, contemptuous, contemptible