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contiguous

[ kuhn-tig-yoo-uhs ]
/ kənˈtɪg yu əs /
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See synonyms for: contiguous / contiguously / contiguousness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
touching; in contact.
in close proximity without actually touching; near.
adjacent in time: contiguous events.

OTHER WORDS FOR contiguous

1 bordering, adjoining, abutting.
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Origin of contiguous

First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin contiguus “touching, bordering upon,“ equivalent to prefix con- “with, together” + tig- (variant stem of -tingere, combining form of tangere “to touch”) + -uus adjective suffix; see con-, tangent, contingent, contact;cf. -ous, continuous

OTHER WORDS FROM contiguous

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use contiguous in a sentence

  • The whorls are described as non-contiguous, when they do not touch each other; continuous, in the opposite case.

    A Conchological Manual|George Brettingham Sowerby

British Dictionary definitions for contiguous

contiguous
/ (kənˈtɪɡjʊəs) /

adjective
touching along the side or boundary; in contact
physically adjacent; neighbouring
preceding or following in time

Derived forms of contiguous

contiguity (ˌkɒntɪˈɡjuːɪtɪ) or contiguousness, nouncontiguously, adverb

Word Origin for contiguous

C17: from Latin contiguus, from contingere to touch; see contact
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
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