incontinent

the word "incontinent" entered english in the late 14th century via old french from the latin incontinentem, the accusative form of incontinens, meaning "not holding back, unceasing, immoderate". it is a compound of the negative prefix in- (meaning "not") and the present participle of continere, meaning "to hold together, enclose, restrain". the latin continere itself is built from con- (together) and tenere (to hold). thus, the literal morphemic logic is "not (in-) holding together/restraining (continent)", which evolved from the physical sense of lacking bodily restraint to the more abstract meaning of lacking moderation or self-control in any desire.

Structure: in (not) + continent (restrained) - in: a latin prefix meaning "not, opposite of". - continent: from latin continent- (stem of continens), meaning "holding together, restraining". in this word, it carries the sense of "restrained, exercising self-control".