congruity
Americannoun
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the state or quality of being congruous; harmony; appropriateness.
a congruity of ideas.
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the state or quality of being geometrically congruent.
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a point of agreement.
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Scholasticism. merit bestowed as a divine gift rather than earned.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of congruity
1350–1400; Middle English congruite < Middle French < Late Latin congruitāt- (stem of congruitās ), equivalent to Latin congru ( us ) congruous + -itāt- -ity
Explanation
Congruity is a quality of agreement and appropriateness. When there's congruity, things fit together in a way that makes sense. If a team has congruity, the players work together well, even if they don’t win. The word congruity is from the Old French congruité for "relevance and appropriateness." Students reading quietly in a library is an example of congruity. A clown juggling fire in a library would be an incongruity, which is when things don't fit together. A well-decorated room, where the colors complement each other, has congruity. Wearing a tuxedo to a classical music concert shows congruity: wearing a tux to a heavy metal concert would not.
Vocabulary lists containing congruity
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.
See Examples For:
It was a congruity that called out for someone to remark upon, and Sullivan was just that person.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 28, 2021
Is it possible for the two to exist in congruity?
From The Guardian ● Sep. 4, 2017
People nest within like-minded social networks and then get social credit by amplifying their congruity.
From Slate ● Dec. 1, 2016
In clear, declarative prose, it dips readers’ toes into stereotype threat and confirmation bias, role congruity theory, cortisol and stress studies and prospect theory.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 5, 2016
Again, we judge of what is probable or improbable, credible or incredible, mainly by its congruity with our previous belief.
From The Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of St. John, Vol. I by Dods, Marcus
“Jerusalem” is full of such local arcana; it also demonstrates Moore’s tendency to see deep congruities everywhere.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 8, 2016
Our Churchby Roger Scruton Because of these congruities, I find Scruton's latest book, a paean to Anglicanism, deeply irritating and unsatisfactory.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 19, 2013
There is a saying reported of Zoroaster, and, coming from the deeps of fifty centuries, still authentic and intelligible, that "the congruities of material forms to the laws of the soul are divine allurements."
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 05, No. 30, April, 1860 by Various
In certain congruities of dark cloth, in the rigid perfection of his linen, in the symmetry of his glove with his hand, lay the secret of Mr. Brummell's miracles.
From The Works of Max Beerbohm by Beerbohm, Max, Sir
The old writers on liturgy loved to dwell on pious congruities and parallelisms.
From The Divine Office by Quigley, Edward J.
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.
