contención
Spanish, noun/kontenˈθjon/
contención is spelled C-O-N-T-E-N-C-I-Ó-N (10 letters) and appears 4.5 times per million words in written Spanish, the 12,987th most frequent Spanish word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Contención is a Spanish feminine noun meaning “act of holding back” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) defines it as “Litigio trabado entre partes”.
What does contención mean in English?
noun
- 1
feminineact of holding back
- 2
feminineself-control
noun
- 1
femininecontention
- 2
datedfeminineargument, debate
- 3
datedfemininedispute
Source: English Wiktionary, Spanish section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Spanish dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Litigio trabado entre partes. 2. Contienda, emulación. 3. Intensión, esfuerzo, conato.
The definition in the Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), in Spanish.
Source: Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of contención
- contenciones plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce contención?
- /kontenˈθjon/
- [kõn̪.t̪ẽn̟ˈθjõn]
- /kontenˈsjon/
Sources: English Wiktionary, Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to contención
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is contención in Spanish?
contención appears 4.5 times per million words in written Spanish.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).