osculation

[os-kyuh-ley-shuh n]

See more synonyms for osculation on Thesaurus.com

noun

Geometry. the contact between two osculating curves or the like.

Origin of osculation

1650–60; < Latin ōsculātiōn- (stem of ōsculātiō) a kissing, equivalent to ōsculāt(us) (see osculate) + -iōn- -ion

Can be confusedauscultation osculation

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

Related Words for osculation

buss, smooch, smack, caress, embrace, smacker, endearment, salutation, peck, salute, butterfly

Examples from the Web for osculation

Historical Examples of osculation

If osculation is a mark of love, surely Mrs. Mack is the best of mothers.
The Newcomes
William Makepeace Thackeray
I've half a mind to ride back and have him out for that rascal "osculation" and the lady unwilling!
Diana of the Crossways, Complete
George Meredith
I think I am able to assure the reader that in her head the osculation had given birth to no reveries.
Miss Ravenel's conversion from secession to loyalty
J. W. de Forest
If there was anything in the way of osculation that that member of an old Austrian family didn't know, I've got to find it out.
Where There's A Will
Mary Roberts Rinehart
Then the crowns were removed and kissed by each of the marrying pair, the bridegroom first performing the osculation.
Overland through Asia; Pictures of Siberian, Chinese, and Tartar Life
Thomas Wallace Knox

British Dictionary definitions for osculation

osculation

noun

Also called: tacnode maths a point at which two branches of a curve have a common tangent, each branch extending in both directions of the tangent
rare the act or an instance of kissing

Derived Formsosculatory (ˈɒskjʊlətərɪ, -trɪ), adjective

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 osculation

"kissing; a kiss," 1650s, from Latin osculationem (nominative osculatio), noun of action from past participle stem of osculari (see osculate).