Online Etymology Dictionary

contiguous (adj.): 1610s, from Latin contiguus "near, touching, bordering upon," from root of contingere "to touch upon" (see contact). Earlier form, now obsolete, was contiguate (mid-15c.).
continence (n.): late 14c., "self-restraint," from Old French continence (14c.), from Latin continentia "a holding back, repression," from continent-, present participle stem of continere (see continent). Especially of sexual desire from late 14c.; of the body's eliminatory functions, from 1915. Related: Continency.
continent (adj.): late 14c., "self-restraining," from Old French continent and directly from Latin continentem (nominative continens) "holding together, continuous," present participle of continere "hold together" (see contain). Meaning moved from "exercising self-restraint" to "chaste" 14c., and to bowel and bladder control 19c.
continent (n.): "large land mass," 1550s, from continent land (mid-15c.), translating Latin terra continens "continuous land," from continens, present participle of continere (see continent (adj.)).
continental (adj.): 1818 as a purely geographical term, from continent + -al (1). In reference to the European mainland (as opposed to Great Britain), recorded from 1760. Continental breakfast (the kind eaten on the continent as opposed to the kind eaten in Britain) is attested by 1855. In reference to the British American colonies from 1774; the Continental Congress is attested from 1775; continental divide in use by 1865; continental rise in geology from 1959; continental slope from 1907. Continental shelf first attested 1892.
continental drift: 1925, a translation of German Kontinentalverschiebung, proposed 1912 by German scientist Alfred Wegener (1880-1930); the theory was not widely accepted until after c.1950.
continentality (n.): 1897, a term in meteorology, from German kontinentalität (1895), from Latin continentem (see continent (adj.)).
contingence (n.): early 16c., from Medieval Latin *contingentia, from contingent- present participle stem of contingere "to touch" (see contact (n.)).
contingencies (n.): "unexpected additional expenses," 1660s, from contingency.
contingency (n.): 1560s, "quality of being contingent," from contingent + -cy. Meaning "a chance occurrence" is from 1610s.
contingent (adj.): late 14c., from Old French contingent or directly from Latin contingentem (nominative contingens) "happening, touching," present participle of contingere "to touch" (see contact). The noun is from 1540s, "thing happening by chance;" as "a group forming part of a larger group" from 1727.
continual (adj.): early 14c., continuell, from Old French continuel (12c.), from Latin continuus (see continue). That which is continual is that which is either always going on or recurs at short intervals and never comes to an end; that which is continuous is that in which there is no break between the beginning and the end. Related: Continually (c.1300, contynuelliche).
continuance (n.): mid-14c., "a keeping up, a going on," from Old French continuance (13c.), from continuer (see continue).
continuation (n.): late 14c., from Old French continuation (13c.), or directly from Latin continuationem (nominative continuatio), noun of action from continuat-, past participle stem of continuare (see continue).
continue (v.): mid-14c., contynuen, from Old French continuer (13c.), from Latin continuare "join together, connect, make or be continuous," from continuus "uninterrupted," from continere (intransitive) "to be uninterrupted," literally "to hang together" (see contain). Related: Continued; continuing.
continuity (n.): early 15c., from Middle French continuité, from Latin continuitatem (nominative continuitas), from continuus (see continue). Cinematographic sense is recorded from 1921, American English.
continuous (adj.): 1640s, from French continueus or directly from Latin continuus "uninterrupted, hanging together" (see continue). Related: Continuously.
continuum (n.): 1640s, from Latin continuum "a continuous thing," neuter of continuus (see continue). The plural is continua.
contort (v.): early 15c., from Latin contortus, past participle of contorquere "to whirl, twist together," from com- "together" or intensive (see com-) + torquere "to twist" (see thwart). Related: Contorted; contorting.
contortion (n.): early 15c., from Middle French contorsion or directly from Latin contortionem (nominative contorsio), noun of action from past participle stem of contorquere (see contort).
contortionist (n.): 1841, from contortion + -ist.
contour (n.): 1660s, a term in painting and sculpture, from French contour "circumference, outline," from Italian and Medieval Latin contornare "to go around," from Latin com-, intensive prefix (see com-), + tornare "to turn on a lathe," from tornus "lathe" (see turn).

First recorded application to topography is from 1769. Earlier the word was used to mean "bedspread, quilt" (early 15c.) in reference to its falling over the sides of the mattress. Related: Contoured. Contour line in geography is from 1844.
contra: mid-14c., from Latin contra (prep. and adv.) "against," originally "in comparison with," ablative singular feminine of *com-teros, from Old Latin com "with, together" (see com-) + -tr, zero degree of the comparative suffix -ter-.
Contra (n.): 1981, "anti-Sandinista Nicaraguan," short for Spanish contrarrevolucionario "counter-revolutionary."
contra dance: 1803, from French contre-danse, altered from English country dance by folk etymology from French contra "against," suggested by the arrangement of the partners in the dance. The dances and the name were taken up in France c. 1720s and from there passed to Spain and Italy (Spanish, Italian contra danza) then back to English.
contra-: word-forming element meaning "against, in opposition," from Latin adverb and preposition contra (see contra). The Latin word was used as a prefix in Late Latin. In French, it became contre- and passed into English as counter-. The Old English equivalent was wiðer (surviving in withers and widdershins), from wið "with, against."
contraband (n.): 1520s, "smuggling;" 1590s, "smuggled goods;" from Middle French contrebande "a smuggling," from older Italian contrabando (modern contrabbando) "unlawful dealing," from Latin contra "against" (see contra) + Medieval Latin bannum, from Frankish *ban "a command" or some other Germanic source (see ban (v.)).
contraception (n.): "birth control," coined 1886 from Latin contra (see contra) + ending from conception.
contraceptive: 1891 (n.), 1918 (adj.), from stem of contraception + -ive.
contract (v.): late 14c., "make narrow, draw together;" early 15c. "make an agreement;" from Middle French contracter, from Latin contractus, past participle of contrahere "to draw together, combine, make an agreement" (see contract (n.)). Related: Contracted; contracting.
contract (n.): early 14c., from Old French contract (Modern French contrat), from Latin contractus "a contract, agreement," from past participle of contrahere "to draw together," metaphorically, "to make a bargain," from com- "together" (see com-) + trahere "to draw" (see tract (n.1)). U.S. underworld sense of "arrangement to kill someone" first recorded 1940.
contracted (adj.): c.1600, "agreed upon," also "shrunken, shortened," past participle adjective from contract (v.).
contractile (adj.): 1706, from French contractile, from Latin contract-, past participle stem of contrahere (see contract (n.)). Related: Contractility. Contractile vacuole is from 1877.
contraction (n.): late 14c., "action of making a contract" (especially of marriage), also "action of shrinking or shortening," from Old French contraction (13c.), or directly from Latin contractionem (nominative contractio), noun of action from past participle stem of contrahere (see contract (n.)). Meaning "action of acquiring (a disease) is from c.1600. Grammatical sense is from 1706; meaning "a contracted word or words" is from 1755. Contractions of the uterus in labor of childbirth attested from 1962.
contractor (n.): 1540s, "one who enters into a contract," from Late Latin contractor, agent noun from past participle stem of Latin contrahere (see contract (n.)); specifically of "one who enters into a contract to provide work, services, or goods" from 1724.
contractual (adj.): 1827, from Latin contractus (see contract (n.)) + -al (1).
contracture (n.): 1650s, from French contracture, from Latin contractura "a drawing together," from contractus, past participle of contrahere (see contract (n.)).
contradict (v.): 1570s, "speak against," also "assert the contrary" (1580s), from Latin contradictus, past participle of contradicere (see contradiction). Related: Contradicted; contradicting; contradictive.
contradiction (n.): late 14c., from Old French contradiction or directly from Latin contradictionem (nominative contradictio) "a reply, objection, counterargument," noun of action from past participle stem of contradicere, in classical Latin contra dicere "to speak against," from contra "against" (see contra) + dicere "to speak" (see diction).
contradictory (adj.): 1530s, "mutually opposed, at variance," from Late Latin contradictorius "containing a contradiction or objection," from contradictus, past participle of contradicere (see contradiction). Meaning "fond of contradicting" is from 1891. Used earlier as a noun (late 14c.).
contradistinction (n.): 1640s, from contra- + distinction.
contrail (n.): 1945, from condensation trail.
contraindicate (v.): 1660s, from contra- + indicate. Related: Contraindicated; contraindication (1620s).
contralateral (adj.): 1882, from contra- + lateral.
contralto (n.): "lowest female voice," 1730, from Italian contralto; see contra- "against, opposite" + alto. The part next above the alto.
contraposition (n.): 1550s, from Late Latin contrapositionem (nominative contrapositio), noun of action from past participle stem of contraponere, from contra "against" (see contra) + ponere "to put, place" (see position (n.)).
contrapositive (adj.): 1858 (implied in contrapositively), from Latin contraposit-, past participle stem of contraponere (see contraposition) + -ive.
contrapposto (n.): 1903, from Italian contrapposto, past participle of contrapporre, from Latin contraponere (see contraposition).
contraption (n.): 1825, western England dialect, origin obscure, perhaps from con(trive) + trap, or deception.
contrapuntal (adj.): 1845, from Italian contrapunto "counterpoint," also "backstitch," from contra "against" (see contra) + punto "point" (see point (n.)). Musical use is from Medieval Latin cantus contrapunctis. Cf. counterpoint. Related: Contrapuntally.