different between sheathe vs contain

English

Etymology

From Late Middle English shethen (“to put (a sword or knife) into a sheath, sheathe; to provide with a sheath; (figuratively) to have sexual intercourse”) [and other forms], then:

• probably from Old English *sc?aþian; or
• possibly from Middle English sheth, shethe (“holder for a sword, knife, etc., scabbard, sheath”) [and other forms] + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs). Sheth(e) is derived from Old English s??aþ (“sheath”), from Proto-Germanic *skaiþiz (“sheath; covering”), from Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to dissect, split”) (possibly from the notion of a split stick with a sword inserted).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: sh?th, IPA^(key): /?i?ð/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?ið/
• Rhymes: -i?ð

Verb

sheathe (third-person singular simple present sheathes, present participle sheathing, simple past and past participle sheathed)

1. (transitive) To put (something such as a knife or sword) into a sheath.

   Antonym: unsheathe
2. (transitive) To encase (something) with a protective covering.

   Antonym: unsheathe

   • 1975, Saul Bellow, Humboldt's Gift [Avon ed., 1976, p. 232]:

     But he could never come up with enough enchantment or dream material to sheathe himself in. It would not cover.

3. (transitive) Of an animal: to draw back or retract (a body part) into the body, such as claws into a paw.

   Antonym: unsheathe
4. (transitive, dated or literary, poetic, figuratively) To thrust (a sharp object like a sword, a claw, or a tusk) into something.
5. (transitive, obsolete or rare, figuratively) To abandon or cease (animosity, etc.)
6. (transitive, obsolete) To provide (a sword, etc.) with a sheath.
7. (transitive, medicine, obsolete) To relieve the harsh or painful effect of (a drug, a poison, etc.).

Conjugation

Alternative forms

• sheath

Derived terms

Translations

References

English

Etymology

From Middle English, borrowed from Old French contenir, from Latin continere (“to hold or keep together, comprise, contain”), combined form of con- (“together”) + tene? (“to hold”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: k?n-t?n?, IPA^(key): /k?n?te?n/
• Rhymes: -e?n
• Hyphenation: con?tain

Verb

contain (third-person singular simple present contains, present participle containing, simple past and past participle contained)

1. (transitive) To hold inside.
2. (transitive) To include as a part.
3. (transitive) To put constraint upon; to restrain; to confine; to keep within bounds.

   • [The king's] only Person is oftentimes instead of an Army, to contain the unruly People from a thousand evil Occasions.
4. (mathematics, of a set etc., transitive) To have as an element or subset.

5. (obsolete, intransitive) To restrain desire; to live in continence or chastity.

   • But if they cannot contain, let them marry.

Synonyms

• (hold inside): enclose, inhold
• (include as part): comprise, embody, incorporate, inhold
• (limit by restraint): control, curb, repress, restrain, restrict, stifle; See also Thesaurus:curb

Antonyms

• (include as part): exclude, omit
• (limit by restraint): release, vent

Usage notes

• This is generally a stative verb that rarely takes the continuous inflection. See Category:English stative verbs

Related terms

• container
• containable
• containment
• content
• continence

Translations

Further reading

• contain in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• contain in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• contain at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• actinon, cantion