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Webster 1913 Edition

Con

Con

,
adv.
[Abbrev. from L.
contra
against.]
Against the affirmative side; in opposition; on the negative side; – The antithesis of pro, and usually in connection with it. See
Pro
.

Con

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Conned
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Conning
.]
[AS.
cunnan
to know, be able, and (derived from this)
cunnian
to try, test. See
Can
,
v. t. & i.
]
1.
To know; to understand; to acknowledge.
[Obs.]
Of muses, Hobbinol, I
con
no skill.
Spenser.
They say they
con
to heaven the highway.
Spenser.
2.
To study in order to know; to peruse; to learn; to commit to memory; to regard studiously.
Fixedly did look
Upon the muddy waters which he
conned

As if he had been reading in a book.
Wordsworth.
I did not come into Parliament to
con
my lesson.
Burke.
To con answer
,
to be able to answer.
[Obs.]
–
To con thanks
,
to thank; to acknowledge obligation.
[Obs.]
Shak.

Con

,
Verb.
T.
[See
Cond
.]
(Naut.)
To conduct, or superintend the steering of (a vessel); to watch the course of (a vessel) and direct the helmsman how to steer.

Webster 1828 Edition

Con

CON.

A Latin inseparable preposition or prefix to other words. Ainsworth remarks that con and cum habe the same signification, but that cum is used separately, and con in composition. Con and cum may be radically distinct words. The Irish comh, or coimh, is equivalent to the Latin con; and the Welsh cym, convertible into cyv, appears to be the same word, denoting, says Owen, a mutual act, quality or effect. It is precisely equivalent to the Latin com, in comparo, compono, and the Latin com, in composition, may be the Celtic comh or cym. But generally it seems to be con, changed into com. Ainsworth deduces cum from the Greek; for originally it was written cyn. But this is probably a mistake.
Con coincides in radical letters and in signification with the Teutonic gain, gen, gean, igen, igien, in the English again, against; Sax. Gean, ongean; sw. Igen; Dan. Igien. Whatever may be its origin or affinities, the primary sense of the word is probably from some root that signifies to meet or oppose, or turn and meet; to approach to, or to be with. This is the radical sense of most propositions of the like import. See the English with, again. So in Irish, coinne, a meeting; as coinne, opposite.
Con, in compounds, is change into l before l, as in colligo, to collect, and into m before a labial, as in comparo, to compare. Before a vowel or h, the na is dropped; as in coalesco, to coalesce, to cooperate; cohibeo, to restrain. I denotes union, as in conjoin; or opposition, as in conflict, contend.
CON, [abbreviated from Latin contra, against.] In the phrase, pro and con, for and against, con denotes the negative side of a question. As a noun, a person who is in the negative; as the pros and cons.
CON, v.t. [to know, to be able, to be skillful or wise; and to bear or bring forth, Gr. To try, to attempt, to prove, L., whence cunning, skillful, experienced, or skill, experience; coincides in sense with to begin, to try to attempt. G. To know; to be able. The primary sense is, to strain or stretch, which gives the sense of strength, power, as in can, and of holding, containing, comprehending, as contain, from contineo, teneo, Gr., L. To beget or to bring forth. In the sense of know, con signifies to hold or to reach.]
1.
To know.
I conne no skill.
I shall not conne answer. I shall not know or be able to answer.
2.
To make ones self master of; to fix in the mend or commit to memory; as, to con a lesson.
To con thanks, to be pleased or obliged, or to thank.

Definition 2024

Con

Con

See also: Appendix:Variations of "con"

Translingual

Symbol

Con

  1. (mathematics, logic) consistency predicate
    ZFC ⊨ Con(PA)

English

Proper noun

Con

  1. A male given name, a diminutive form of Conor or Cornelius.
  2. Abbreviation of convention.

Anagrams

con

con

See also: Appendix:Variations of "con"

English

Verb

con ‎(third-person singular simple present cons, present participle conning, simple past and past participle conned)

  1. (rare) To study, especially in order to gain knowledge of.
    • Wordsworth
      Fixedly did look / Upon the muddy waters which he conned / As if he had been reading in a book.
    • Burke
      I did not come into Parliament to con my lesson.
    • 1963, D'Arcy Niland, Dadda jumped over two elephants: short stories:
      The hawk rested on a crag of the gorge and conned the terrain with a fierce and frowning eye.
  2. (rare, archaic) To know, understand, acknowledge.
  3. Variant spelling of conn: to conduct the movements of a ship at sea.
Related terms

Etymology 2

Abbreviation of Latin contra ‎(“against”).

Noun

con ‎(plural cons)

  1. A disadvantage of something, especially when contrasted with its advantages (pros).
    pros and cons
Synonyms
Antonyms
Related terms
Translations

Etymology 3

Clipping of convict.

Noun

con ‎(plural cons)

  1. (slang) A convicted criminal, a convict.
Translations

Etymology 4

From con trick, shortened from confidence trick.

Noun

con ‎(plural cons)

  1. (slang) A fraud; something carried out with the intention of deceiving, usually for personal, often illegal, gain.
Synonyms
  • See also Wikisaurus:deception
Translations

Verb

con ‎(third-person singular simple present cons, present participle conning, simple past and past participle conned)

  1. (transitive, slang) To trick or defraud, usually for personal gain.
Synonyms
Translations

Related terms

Etymology 5

From earlier cond, from Middle English conduen, from Old French conduire, from Latin condūcere, present active infinitive of condūcō ‎(“draw together; conduct”).

Verb

con ‎(third-person singular simple present cons, present participle conning, simple past and past participle conned)

  1. (nautical) To give the necessary orders to the helmsman to steer a ship in the required direction through a channel etc. (rather than steer a compass direction)
Translations

Noun

con ‎(uncountable)

  1. (nautical) The navigational direction of a ship
Derived terms

Etymology 6

Clipping of convention or conference.

Noun

con ‎(plural cons)

  1. An organized gathering such as a convention, conference or congress.

See also

Anagrams

Aragonese

Etymology

From Latin cum ‎(“with”).

Preposition

con

  1. with

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin cum ‎(“with”).

Preposition

con

  1. with

Derived terms

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin conus.

Noun

con m ‎(plural cons)

  1. cone

Related terms

  • cònic

Dalmatian

Etymology

From Latin cunnus.

Noun

con m

  1. (vulgar) ****, ****

Fala

Etymology

From Old Portuguese con, from Latin cum, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm.

Preposition

con

  1. with
    • 2000, Domingo Frades Gaspar, Vamus a falal: Notas pâ coñocel y platical en nosa fala, Editora regional da Extremadura, Chapter 2: Númerus:
      Cumu to é custión de proporciós, sin que sirva de argumentu por nun fel falta, poemus vel que en a misma Europa hai Estaus Soberarius con menus territoriu que os tres lugaris nossus, cumu:
      As everything is a matter of proportions, without its presence being an argument, we can see that even in Europe there are Sovereign States with less territory than our three places, such as:

Antonyms

French

Etymology

From Latin cunnus, probably ultimately of Proto-Indo-European [Term?] origin.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kɔ̃/

Noun

con m ‎(plural cons, feminine conne)

  1. (vulgar) ****, pussy
  2. (vulgar) arsehole, ****, fucktard, ****, retard (stupid person)

See also

Anagrams

Galician

Etymology

From Old Portuguese con, from Latin cum ‎(“with”).

Preposition

con

  1. with

Antonyms

Derived terms

Irish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [kɔnˠ]

Noun

con m

  1. genitive singular of cú

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
con chon gcon
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Italian

Etymology

From Latin cum ‎(“with”), from Proto-Italic *kom, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm ‎(“next to, at, with, along”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kon/

Preposition

con

  1. with, together
  2. (rowing) coxed

Usage notes

  • When followed by the definite article, con may be combined with the article to produce the following combined forms:
con + article Combined form
con + il col
con + lo collo
con + l' coll'
con + i coi
con + gli cogli
con + la colla
con + le colle

Antonyms

Ladin

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin cum ‎(“with”).

Preposition

con

  1. with

Lojban

Rafsi

con

  1. rafsi of condi.

Muong

Alternative forms

  • còn (tone sandhi)

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *kɔːn, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *kuun or *kuən. Cognates include Old Mon kon, Khmer កូន ‎(kon), Bahnar kon, Vietnamese con.

Noun

con

  1. child

Classifier

con

  1. Indicates animals (including the human)

References

  • Hà Quang Phùng (2012-09-06) Tìm hiểu về ngữ pháp tiếng Mường (Thim hiếu wuê ngử pháp thiểng Mường) (FlashPaper, in Vietnamese, Muong), Thanh Sơn–Phú Thọ Province Continuing Education Center

Old French

Etymology 1

From Latin cunnus.

Noun

con m ‎(oblique plural cons, nominative singular cons, nominative plural con)

  1. (vulgar) **** (human female genitalia)

See also

Descendants

Etymology 2

See conme.

Conjunction

con

  1. Alternative form of conme

Old Irish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kon/

Noun

con m

  1. genitive singular of cú
  2. genitive dual of cú
  3. genitive plural of cú

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Nasalization
con chon con
pronounced with /ɡ(ʲ)-/
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Old Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin cum, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱón.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kõ/

Preposition

con

  1. with

Descendants

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin cum ‎(“with”), from Proto-Italic *kom, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm ‎(“next to, at, with, along”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kon/
  • Rhymes: -on

Preposition

con

  1. with
  2. on
    Yo cuento con ustedes.‎
    I count on you.

Antonyms

See also

Vietnamese

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *kɔːn, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *kuun or *kuən; cognates include Old Mon kon, Khmer កូន ‎(kon), Bahnar kon, Muong con

Pronunciation

Noun

(classifier đứa) con ‎(昆, 𡥵)

  1. child (daughter or son)

See also

Pronoun

con ‎(昆, 𡥵)

  1. I (refers to oneself when speaking to their parent(s))
  2. (familiar or dialectal, chiefly Central Vietnam and Southern Vietnam) I (refers to oneself when speaking to a (presumably) much older person, or one's grandparent(s))
  3. you (addressed to one's son or daughter)
  4. (familiar or dialectal, chiefly Central Vietnam and Southern Vietnam) you (addressed to a (presumably) much younger person, or one's grandchild)

Classifier

con

  1. Indicates animals (including the human), eyes, knives, boats and ships
  2. (informal) Indicates wheeled vehicles
    Anh mày có hẳn hai con xe Honda đấy nhớ!‎
    I have two Honda motorbikes!

Antonyms

Etymology

From Middle English connen, from Old English cunnan ‎(“to know, know how”), from Proto-Germanic *kunnaną.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /kɒn/
  • (US) enPR: kŏn, IPA(key): /kɑn/
  • Rhymes: -ɒn

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