How to spell contain

Contain is spelled C-O-N-T-A-I-N.

hear itcon·tain/kən'teɪn/verbRules and real life

What it means: To hold or include something.

In a sentence: The box can contain all the toys.

Same family: contains, contained, containing, container, containment. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Contain” comes from Latin *continēre*, meaning “to hold together” (*con-* = together + *tenere* = to hold). It is related to other English words with *-tain*, like “maintain,” “obtain,” and “retain.”

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