contingence

[kuh n-tin-juh ns]

See more synonyms for contingence on Thesaurus.com

noun

contact or tangency.

Origin of contingence

First recorded in 1520–30; conting(ent) + -ence

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for contingence

predicament, accident, eventuality, emergency, possibility, likelihood, touch, touching, tangency

Examples from the Web for contingence

Historical Examples of contingence

Contingence not even applies to essence, let alone super-essence, vi.
Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 4
Plotinos (Plotinus)
Contingence applicable to Supreme, under new definition only, vi.
Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 4
Plotinos (Plotinus)
If we reflect on these considerations, the problem of determinism and of contingence will appear to us in a new light.
The Foundations of Science: Science and Hypothesis, The Value of Science, Science and Method
Henri Poincar
The one is an eternal and necessary truth, subject to no contingence, no possibility of the opposite.
Mental Philosophy: Including the Intellect, Sensibilities, and Will
Joseph Haven

British Dictionary definitions for contingence

contingence

noun

the state of touching or being in contact
another word for contingency

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for contingence

early 16c., from Medieval Latin *contingentia, from contingent- present participle stem of contingere "to touch" (see contact (n.)).