‖n.;
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. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]
n. [ L. contegere, -tectum, to cover up. ] A covering. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ OE. conteck, conteke, contake, perh. a corruption either of contact or contest. ]
Contek with bloody knife. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. t.
Thy pompous delicacies I contemn. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]
One who contemned divine and human laws. Dryden.
n. One who contemns; a despiser; a scorner. “Contemners of the gods.” South. [ 1913 Webster ]
adv. Contemptuously. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
v. t. [ L. contemperare, -temperatum; con- + temperare to temper. Cf. Contemperate. ] To modify or temper; to allay; to qualify; to moderate; to soften. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
The antidotes . . . have allayed its bitterness and contempered its malignancy. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. t. [ See Contemper. ] To temper; to moderate. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
Moisten and contemperate the air. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]
n.
n. The condition of being tempered; proportionate mixture; temperature. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
The different contemperature of the elements. South. [ 1913 Webster ]