osculation
Americannoun
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the act of kissing.
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a kiss.
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close contact.
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Geometry. the contact between two osculating curves or the like.
noun
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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
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rare the act or an instance of kissing
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of osculation
1650–60; < Latin ōsculātiōn- (stem of ōsculātiō ) a kissing, equivalent to ōsculāt ( us ) ( see osculate) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
Osculation means kissing. If you tease your friends with a rhyme that describes them "sitting in a tree/k-i-s-s-i-n-g," you're joking about osculation. Most wedding ceremonies traditionally end with osculation, and osculation is also part of a typical greeting in many parts of Europe. It's a fancy way of saying "kiss," and if you think it sounds vaguely mathematical, you're right. Osculation is also a term in geometry that describes the place where two curves or surfaces come into contact, or where their common tangent exists. It's almost as if the two curved lines are kissing.
Vocabulary lists containing osculation
Body Language: Or, Os ("Mouth")
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or, os
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or, os
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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.
One of the play's more memorable exchanges directly engages the all-important subject of theatrical osculation.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2016
On the same day I saw “Vanya,” I was treated to a more optimistic act of osculation in the afternoon.
From New York Times • Aug. 11, 2011
Acts of osculation have of course been known to sweep people off their feet.
From New York Times • Jun. 26, 2011
It stands fragrantly like a bride at the altar, awaiting the embrace of fresh butter and an osculation of jam.
From Time Magazine Archive
If osculation is a mark of love, surely Mrs. Mack is the best of mothers.
From The Newcomes Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family by Thackeray, William Makepeace
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.
