dependent for existence, occurrence, character, etc., on something not yet certain; conditional (often fol. by on or upon): Our plans are contingent on the weather.
2.
liable to happen or not; uncertain; possible: They had to plan for contingent expenses.
3.
happening by chance or without known cause; fortuitous; accidental: contingent occurrences.
4.
Logic. (of a proposition) neither logically necessary nor logically impossible, so that its truth or falsity can be established only by sensory observation.
–noun
5.
a quota of troops furnished.
6.
any one of the representative groups composing an assemblage: the New York contingent at a national convention.
7.
the proportion that falls to one as a share to be contributed or furnished.
8.
something contingent; contingency.
[Origin: 1350–1400; late ME (prp.) (< MF) < L contingent- (s. of contingéns, prp. of contingere), equiv. to con-con-+ ting-, var. s. of tangere to touch + -ent--ent]
c.1385, from L. contingentem (nom. contingens) "happening, touching," prp. of contingere "to touch" (see contact). Contingency "uncertain incident" is from c.1626.
Ac`ci*den"tal\, a. [Cf. F. accidentel, earlier accidental.]1. Happening by chance, or unexpectedly; taking place not according to the usual course of things; casual; fortuitous; as, an accidental visit. 2. Nonessential; not necessary belonging; incidental; as, are accidental to a play. Accidental chords (Mus.), those which contain one or more tones foreign to their proper harmony. Accidental colors (Opt.), colors depending on the hypersensibility of the retina of the eye for complementary colors. They are purely subjective sensations of color which often result from the contemplation of actually colored bodies. Accidental point (Persp.), the point in which a right line, drawn from the eye, parallel to a given right line, cuts the perspective plane; so called to distinguish it from the principal point, or point of view, where a line drawn from the eye perpendicular to the perspective plane meets this plane. Accidental lights (Paint.), secondary lights; effects of light other than ordinary daylight, such as the rays of the sun darting through a cloud, or between the leaves of trees; the effect of moonlight, candlelight, or burning bodies. --Fairholt. Syn: Casual; fortuitous; contingent; occasional; adventitious. Usage: Accidental, Incidental, Casual, Fortuitous, Contingent. We speak of a thing as accidental when it falls out as by chance, and not in the regular course of things; as, an accidental meeting, an accidental advantage, etc. We call a thing incidental when it falls, as it were, into some regular course of things, but is secondary, and forms no essential part thereof; as, an incremental remark, an incidental evil, an incidental benefit. We speak of a thing as casual, when it falls out or happens, as it were, by mere chance, without being prearranged or premeditated; as, a casual remark or encounter; a casual observer. An idea of the unimportant is attached to what is casual. Fortuitous is applied to what occurs without any known cause, and in opposition to what has been foreseen; as, a fortuitous concourse of atoms. We call a thing contingent when it is such that, considered in itself, it may or may not happen, but is dependent for its existence on something else; as, the time of my coming will be contingent on intelligence yet to be received.
Con"tact\, n. [L. contactus, fr. contingere, -tactum, to touch on all sides. See Contingent.]1. A close union or junction of bodies; a touching or meeting. 2. (Geom.) The property of two curves, or surfaces, which meet, and at the point of meeting have a common direction. 3. (Mining) The plane between two adjacent bodies of dissimilar rock. --Raymond. Contact level, a delicate level so pivoted as to tilt when two parts of a measuring apparatus come into contact with each other; -- used in precise determinations of lengths and in the accurate graduation of instruments.
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