Logo
dictionary thesaurus

contiguous

adjective
con·​tig·​u·​ous | \ kən-ˈti-gyə-wəs How to pronounce contiguous (audio) , -gyü-əs\

Definition of contiguous

1 : being in actual contact : touching along a boundary or at a point the 48 contiguous states
2 of angles : adjacent sense 2
3 : next or near in time or sequence The fires were contiguous with the earthquake.
4 : touching or connected throughout in an unbroken sequence contiguous row houses contiguous vineyards
Other Words from contiguous Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about contiguous

Keep scrolling for more

Other Words from contiguous

contiguously adverb
contiguousness noun

Choose the Right Synonym for contiguous

adjacent, adjoining, contiguous, juxtaposed mean being in close proximity. adjacent may or may not imply contact but always implies absence of anything of the same kind in between. a house with an adjacent garage adjoining definitely implies meeting and touching at some point or line. had adjoining rooms at the hotel contiguous implies having contact on all or most of one side. offices in all 48 contiguous states juxtaposed means placed side by side especially so as to permit comparison and contrast. a skyscraper juxtaposed to a church

Did You Know?

You probably won't be surprised to learn that the word contact is a relative of contiguous, but would you believe that contagion and contingent are too? All of those words derive from the Latin contingere, meaning "to have contact with." The words contact and contiguous are fairly easy to connect with contingere, but what of the other two? In its early use, contingent was a synonym of "touching," and if you remember that touching something can pollute it (and that another meaning of contingere was "to pollute"), then contagion logically ties in, too.

Examples of contiguous in a Sentence

And in the west, contiguous to Lebanon, was the mountain stronghold of Latakia … — Robert D. Kaplan, Atlantic, February 1993 The Santa Monica Mountains, a sort of foot-note to the big contiguous ranges, stood off to the southwest of us, discrete and small. — John McPhee, New Yorker, 26 Sept. 1988 'I've had my men looking into the land situation … and they think they could get us an additional thirty thousand acres, not all of it contiguous but we might make some trades.' — James A. Michener, Texas, 1985 Connecticut and Massachusetts are contiguous states.
See More

Recent Examples on the Web

 Temperatures between January and June in the contiguous United States and southern Canada ranged at least 1.8 degrees cooler than average. — Susan Scutti, CNN, "Worldwide, June 2019 was the hottest June ever, according to more than a century of weather records," 19 July 2019 Two of the highest mountains in the contiguous United States — Elbert and Massive — serve as a backdrop. — Nic Garcia, The Denver Post, "Denver Post listening tour: Leadville looks to diversify beyond “scrappy mining town”," 14 July 2019 Located about 27 miles off the San Francisco and Marin coastline, the South Farallon Islands are home to the largest seabird breeding colony in the contiguous United States with up to 350,000 birds using it. — Will Houston, The Mercury News, "‘Like dropping a nuclear bomb on this island’: Feds delay Farallon Islands poison airdrop bid," 11 July 2019 Settlements and safety investments are an expensive proposition in a state that already has the highest retail electricity costs in the contiguous 48 states outside New England, some 54% above the national average. — Spencer Jakab, WSJ, "How to Keep the Lights on in California," 9 Jan. 2019 Meanwhile, more than a quarter of the contiguous U.S. remained in drought; the most intense dryness was in the Southwest. — Doyle Rice, USA TODAY, "May was warmest on record for USA, breaking mark set during Dust Bowl," 6 June 2018 Status of Spring indexes The NPN makes use of two main indexes, first-leaf and first-bloom, to monitor the start of spring across the contiguous 48 states. — Greg Porter, Washington Post, "Finally — spring has arrived. Recent warmth has pushed plants into full gear.," 27 Apr. 2018 As some of the Middle East’s largest remaining contiguous woodland, the forests of northern Iraq are a vital sponge during sometimes debilitating winter floods. — Peter Schwartzstein, National Geographic, "Iraq races to save last of Middle East's forests from burning," 22 July 2019 EQT’s deal for Rice was largely motivated by the idea of drilling supersize wells beneath the two companies’ contiguous acreage in the Marcellus Shale in the eastern U.S., one of the largest gas fields in the world. — Christopher M. Matthews, WSJ, "Rice Brothers Win Control of EQT," 10 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'contiguous.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

See More

First Known Use of contiguous

circa 1609, in the meaning defined at sense 1

History and Etymology for contiguous

Latin contiguus, from contingere to have contact with — more at contingent

Keep scrolling for more

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for contiguous

contiguous

adjective
How to pronounce contiguous (audio)

English Language Learners Definition of contiguous

formal —used to describe things that touch each other or are immediately next to each other

See the full definition for contiguous in the English Language Learners Dictionary

contiguous

adjective
con·​tig·​u·​ous | \ kən-ˈtig-yə-wəs How to pronounce contiguous (audio) \

Medical Definition of contiguous

: being in actual contact : touching along a boundary or at a point

Other Words from contiguous

contiguity \ ˌkänt-​ə-​ˈgyü-​ət-​ē How to pronounce contiguity (audio) \ noun, plural contiguities
contiguously adverb

WORD OF THE DAY

convivial

play

See Definitions and Examples

Get Word of the Day daily email!