Contiguous

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kÉ™nˈtɪɡjuÉ™s/
• Hyphenation: con + tig + u + ous

Origin

From Latin contiguus ("touching"), from contingere ("to touch"); see contingent, contact, contagion.

Full definition of contiguous

Adjective

1. connected; touching; abutting
2. adjacent; neighbouring/neighboring
• 1730–1774, Oliver Goldsmith, Introductory to SwitzerlandThough poor the peasant’s hut, his feasts though small,He sees his little lot the lot of all;Sees no contiguous palace rear its headTo shame the meanness of his humble shed;
• 1835, William Scoresby, Memorials of the Sea (page 59)... the usual quietness of the day, with us, was broken in upon by the shout of success from the pursuing boats, followed by vehement respondings from the contiguous ship.
3. connecting without a breakThe forty-eight contiguous states.
• 1886, Frank Hamilton Cushing, A Study of Pueblo Pottery as Illustrative of Zuñi Culture Growth:Supposing three such houses to be contiguous to a central one, each separated from the latter by a straight wall.

Related terms

• contiguity

Derived terms

• contiguousness