LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

contumēlia

contumēlia f (genitive contumēliae)
Classical[kɔn.tʊˈmeː.li.a]Ecclesiastical[kon.tuˈmɛː.li.a]

Meaning

  1. insult, reproach, contumely, abuse, mistreatment
    […]; quamquam de gloria vix dicere ausim, si nos et hostes haud secus quam feminas abditos intra vallum omnibus contumeliis eludunt, et […][…] ; though I had as lief not to speak of glory, when the enemy jeers us with much abuse as if women concealing behind walls, and […]27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita 7.13
    ubi fuerit superbia, ibi erit et contumēlia: ubi autem humilitās, ibi et sapientiaWhere pride is, there also shall be reproach: but where humility is, there also is wisdom. (Douay-Rheims trans., Challoner rev.; 1752 CE)c. 347 CE – 420 CE, Hieronymus, Vulgate Proverbs.11.2
  2. affront, invective
  3. humiliation, injury; assault, violence

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Contumelia · Injuria · Offensio

1. Contumelia (from contemnere) denotes a wrong done to the honor of another; injuria, a violation of another’s right. A blow is an injuria, so far as it is the infliction of bodily harm; and a contumelia, so far as it brings on the person who receives it, the imputation of a cowardly or servile spirit. Senec. Clem. i. 10. Contumelias, quæ acerbiores principibus solent esse quam injuriæ. Pacuv. Non. Patior facile injuriam, si vacua est contumelia. Phædr. Fab. v. 3, 5. Cic. Quint. 30, 96. Verr. iii. 44. 2. Contumelia and injuria are actions, whereas offensio denotes a state, namely, the mortified feeling of the offended person, resentment, in opp. to gratia. Plin. H. N. xix. 1. Quintil. iv. 2. Plin. Pan. 18. (iv. 194.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativecontumēliacontumēliae
genitivecontumēliaecontumēliārum
dativecontumēliaecontumēliīs
accusativecontumēliamcontumēliās
ablativecontumēliācontumēliīs
vocativecontumēliacontumēliae

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

verborum contumeliae
insulting expressions.
contumelia aliquem afficere
to insult some one.

con-tŭmēlĭa (post-class. access. form contŭmĭa, Mart. Cap. 4, § 424; cf.: contumia contumelia, Gloss. Isid.), ae, f. from a root tem, whence also temno, contemno, and contumax; cf. Dig. 47, 10, 1,
I. abuse, insult, affront, reproach, invective, contumely (cf.: injuria, ὕβρις; very freq. and class. in sing. and plur.): contumelia a contemptu dicta est, quia nemo nisi quem contempsit, tali injuriā notat, Sen. Const. 11, 2: patior facile injuriam, si est vacua a contumeliā, Pac. ap. Non. p. 430, 16; cf. Caecil. ib.: contumeliam alteri facere, Plaut. As. 2, 4, 82; Ter. Phorm. 5, 7 (8), 79; cf. id. Eun. 5, 2, 26: contumeliam dicere alicui, Plaut. Curc. 4, 1, 17; id. Bacch. 2, 3, 33; Ter. Phorm. 2, 3, 29; Liv. 25, 22, 13: contumeliam si dicis, audies, Plaut. Ps. 4, 7, 77: jacere in aliquem, Cic. Sull. 7, 23: meretricum perpeti, Ter. Eun. 1, 1, 3; cf. Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 41, § 96: in se accipere, Ter. Eun. 4, 7, 1; cf.: tanta contumelia accepta, Caes. B. G. 7, 10: alicui imponere, Sall. C. 48, 9: quibus tu privatim injurias plurimas contumeliasque imposuisti, Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 9, § 20: indignitates contumeliasque perferre, Caes. B. G. 2, 14: graves, severe reproaches (opp. libera consilia), Hor. Epod. 11, 26: aliquid in suam contumeliam vertere, Caes. B. C. 1, 8: per contumeliam, id. ib. 1, 9; Quint. 4, 1, 11: contumeliā perfugae appellari ab aliquo, Caes. B. C. 2, 28; cf. Liv. 3, 50, 6 et saep.: in contumeliam ignominiamque nostram certare juvat, id. 4, 4, 12: contumeliae verborum, Cic. Phil. 11, 2, 5.—In mal. part., violation, Liv. 8, 28, 2; Auct. Har. Resp. 20, 42.—The expression facere contumeliam is censured by Cic. (Phil. 3, 9, 22) in the words of Antonius: nulla contumelia est, quam facit dignus; but it is not clear on what grounds (whether as an archaism, or because it is used after the analogy of jacturam facere, in the sense of contumelia adfici); v. Quint. 9, 3, 13, and cf. esp. Gronov. Observv. 3, 8, pp. 488-502 (pp. 241-247 Frotsch.).—Personified: Contŭmē-lĭa, like Ὕβρις, Cic. Leg. 2, 11, 28.—*
II. Transf., injury, assault, annoyance, violence, blows, etc. ( = injuria): naves totae factae ex robore ad quamvis vim et contumeliam perferendam, injury, violence, Caes. B. G. 3, 13; so Phaedr. 1, 2, 21: praeberi ora contumeliis, to the blows, Tac. H. 3, 31; 3, 85: debilitatis suae, annoyance, hardship, Plin. Ep. 8, 18, 9; cf. injuria.

Origins

Related to contumāx.

Descendants
  • Catalancontumèlia
  • Englishcontumelyfrom Old French contumelie
  • Frenchcontuméliefrom Old French contumelie
  • Italiancontumelia
  • Occitancontumelia
  • Portuguesecontumélia
  • Spanishcontumelia
  • Asturiancontumenia
  • Galiciancontumelia

In English words that came into English from contumēlia

  • contumelycontumēlia
  • contumeliouscontumēliōsus

Quick answers

What does contumēlia mean in Latin?
contumēlia, a noun, means “insult, reproach, contumely, abuse, mistreatment; affront, invective; humiliation, injury”.
What is the genitive of contumēlia?
The genitive singular is contumēliae. contumēlia is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce contumēlia?
In classical Latin, [kɔn.tʊˈmeː.li.a]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [kon.tuˈmɛː.li.a].