contiguity
Americannoun
plural
contiguities-
the state of being contiguous; contact or proximity.
-
a series of things in continuous connection; a continuous mass or extent.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of contiguity
From the Late Latin word contiguitās, dating back to 1635–45. See contiguous, -ity
Explanation
Use the noun contiguity when you're talking about the state of things being right up next to each other, like the contiguity of two countries that share a border. You're most likely to come across the word contiguity in a discussion of geography. For example, you could talk about the contiguity of the United States and its northern neighbor, Canada, or the contiguity of New Hampshire and Vermont. Contiguity shares a root with the more common contiguous, the Latin contingere, which means "to touch upon."
Vocabulary lists containing contiguity
The Scarlet Letter
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The Return of the Native
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The House of the Seven Gables
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
David Hume, in his 1748 book, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, wrote, “There appear to be only three principles of connections among ideas, namely Resemblance, Contiguity in time or place, and Cause or Effect.”
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
The entire routine of our memorized acquisitions, for example, is a consequence of nothing but the Law of Contiguity.
From Talks To Teachers On Psychology; And To Students On Some Of Life's Ideals by James, William
Contiguity in time corresponds to the successive, and contiguity in place to the synchronous, order.
From The English Utilitarians, Volume II (of 3) James Mill by Stephen, Leslie, Sir
Contiguity does not always exist, to our senses at least, in the cases in which motion produces motion.
From A System Of Logic, Ratiocinative And Inductive by Mill, John Stuart
Contiguity to a Railway Station on the main line, and to a Town, with commercial, professional, educational, social and religious advantages.
From A start in life. A journey across America. Fruit farming in California by Dowsett, C. F. (Charles Finch)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
