contiguity

contiguity

English

Etymology

From French contiguïté, from Late Latin contiguitās, from Latin contiguus (“bordering upon”), from contingō (“I touch or border upon”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɒntɪˈɡjuːɪti/
• Hyphenation: con‧ti‧gu‧i‧ty

Noun

contiguity (countable and uncountable, plural contiguities)

1. A state in which two or more physical objects are physically touching one another or in which sections of a plane border on one another.
   • 1958–1960, R.S. Peters, The Concept of Motivation, Routledge & Kegan Paul (second edition), chapter i: “Types of Explanation in Psychological Theories”, page 12:

     In the mechanical conception of ‘cause’ it is…demanded that there should be spatial and temporal contiguity between the movements involved.

Synonyms

• (state in which objects are physically touching): synapse (of neurons)[1]

Translations

state in which objects are physically touching

Bulgarian: допир (bg) (dopir) Catalan: contigüitat French: contiguïté (fr) f Galician: contigüidade (gl) f Italian: contiguità f

Portuguese: contiguidade (pt) f Romanian: contiguitate (ro) f Spanish: contigüidad (es) f Swedish: kontiguitet c

References

• contiguity in An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.
• contiguity in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• “contiguity” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• Notes:

1. Medical Physiology, Boron & Boulpaep, →ISBN, Elsevier Saunders 2005. Updated edition. page 295.