Meanings
- figurativelynot comparablesometimesConnected; touching; abutting.
It was in this haphazard way that Mr Carrados was fated to be drawn into the curious Shakespeare case—a gossipy letter from an American friend coupled with the Stratford-on-Avon outrage, and the contiguous circumstance that his secretary's sister happened to be in the council of the 'militants'.
1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries - not comparableAdjacent; neighboring.
1730–1774, Oliver Goldsmith, Introductory to Switzerland Though poor the peasant’s hut, his feasts though small, He sees his little lot the lot of all; Sees no contiguous palace rear its head To shame the meanness of his humble shed;
1 more example
[…] 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.
1835, William Scoresby, Memorials of the Sea, page 59 - not comparableConnecting without a break.
the forty-eight contiguous states
1 more example
Supposing three such houses to be contiguous to a central one, each separated from the latter by a straight wall.
1886, Frank Hamilton Cushing, A Study of Pueblo Pottery as Illustrative of Zuñi Culture Growth
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveconnecting without a break; within a common boundary
adjectivehaving a common boundary or edge; abutting; touching
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
- Proto-Italic*kom
- Proto-Italic*kom-
- Latincon-
- Proto-Indo-European*teh₂g-
- Proto-Italic*tangō
- Latintangō
- Latincontingō
- Latincontiguus
- Proto-Indo-European*h₃ed-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₃édosder.?
- Englishcontiguous
From Latin contiguus (“touching”) + -ous, from contingere (“to touch”); see contingent, contact, contagion.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian допиращ се, граничещ
- допиращ се (dopirašt se)connected, touching, abutting
- граничещ (graničešt)connected, touching, abutting
- съседен (săseden)adjacent, neighboring
Catalan contigu, contigu
- contiguconnected, touching, abutting
- contiguadjacent, neighboring
- contiguconnecting without a break
Chinese Mandarin 相接的, 毗連的 /毗连的
- 相接的 (xiāngjiē de)connected, touching, abutting
- 毗連的 /毗连的 (pílián de)connected, touching, abutting
- 鄰近的 /邻近的 (línjìn de)adjacent, neighboring
- 相鄰的 /相邻的 (xiānglín de)adjacent, neighboring
- 連續的 /连续的 (liánxù de)connecting without a break
Danish tilstødende, tilgrænsende
- tilstødendeconnected, touching, abutting
- tilgrænsendeconnected, touching, abutting
- nærliggendeadjacent, neighboring
- sammenhængendeconnecting without a break
Dutch verbonden, aangrenzend
- verbondenconnected, touching, abutting
- aangrenzendadjacent, neighboring
- samenhangendconnecting without a break
Finnish liittyvä, vierekkäinen
- liittyväconnected, touching, abutting
- vierekkäinenconnected, touching, abutting
- viereinenconnected, touching, abutting
- viereinenadjacent, neighboring
- naapuri-adjacent, neighboring
- yhtenäinenconnecting without a break
- jatkuvaconnecting without a break
French contigu, contigu
- contiguconnected, touching, abutting
- contiguadjacent, neighboring
- voisinadjacent, neighboring
- adjacentadjacent, neighboring
- contiguconnecting without a break
- attenantconnecting without a break
- continuconnecting without a break
German angrenzend, zusammen
- angrenzendconnected, touching, abutting
- zusammenconnected, touching, abutting
- verbundenconnected, touching, abutting
- durchgehendconnected, touching, abutting
- nebeneinanderliegendconnected, touching, abutting
- angrenzendadjacent, neighboring
- benachbartadjacent, neighboring
- naheadjacent, neighboring
- zusammenhängendconnecting without a break
Greek συνεχόμενος, συνεχόμενος
- συνεχόμενος (synechómenos)connected, touching, abutting
- συνεχόμενος (synechómenos)adjacent, neighboring
- συνεχόμενος (synechómenos)connecting without a break
Hungarian érintkező, összeérő
- érintkezőconnected, touching, abutting
- összeérőconnected, touching, abutting
- összekapcsoltconnected, touching, abutting
- egybekapcsoltconnected, touching, abutting
- hozzá kapcsolódóconnected, touching, abutting
- szomszédosadjacent, neighboring
- határosadjacent, neighboring
- mellette fekvő/lévőadjacent, neighboring
- (egymás) mellettiadjacent, neighboring
- egymás mellett fekvő/lévőadjacent, neighboring
- egybefüggőconnecting without a break
- összefüggőconnecting without a break
Icelandic aðlægur, samlægur
- aðlægurconnected, touching, abutting
- samlægurconnected, touching, abutting
- samliggjandiconnected, touching, abutting
- aðlæguradjacent, neighboring
- samlæguradjacent, neighboring
- samliggjandiadjacent, neighboring
- samlægurconnecting without a break
- samliggjandiconnecting without a break
Italian contiguo, contiguo
- contiguoconnected, touching, abutting
- contiguoadjacent, neighboring
- contiguoconnecting without a break
Latin confīnis
- confīnisadjacent, neighboring
Māori kāpīpiti, piritaha
- kāpīpiticonnected, touching, abutting
- piritahaconnected, touching, abutting
- whātataconnected, touching, abutting
- whātataadjacent, neighboring
- piritahaadjacent, neighboring
Norwegian Bokmål tilstøtende, nærliggende
- tilstøtendeconnected, touching, abutting
- nærliggendeadjacent, neighboring
- sammenhengendeconnecting without a break
Persian نزدیک, همسایه
- نزدیک (nazdik)connected, touching, abutting
- همسایه (hamsâye)connected, touching, abutting
- نزدیک (nazdik)adjacent, neighboring
- همسایه (hamsâye)adjacent, neighboring
- پیوستهconnecting without a break
Portuguese contíguo, contíguo
- contíguoconnected, touching, abutting
- contíguoadjacent, neighboring
- contíguoconnecting without a break
Russian сме́жный, соприкаса́ющийся
- сме́жный (sméžnyj)connected, touching, abutting
- соприкаса́ющийся (soprikasájuščijsja)connected, touching, abutting
- грани́чащий (graníčaščij)connected, touching, abutting
- прилега́ющий (prilegájuščij)connected, touching, abutting
- сосе́дний (sosédnij)adjacent, neighboring
- близлежа́щий (blizležáščij)adjacent, neighboring
- прилега́ющий (prilegájuščij)adjacent, neighboring
- непреры́вный (neprerývnyj)connecting without a break
Spanish contiguo, vecino
- contiguoconnected, touching, abutting
- vecinoadjacent, neighboring
- cercanoadjacent, neighboring
- contiguoadjacent, neighboring
- adyacenteadjacent, neighboring
- adosadoconnecting without a break
- colindanteconnecting without a break
Swedish närliggande
- närliggandeadjacent, neighboring
Turkish bitişik, komşu
- bitişikconnected, touching, abutting
- komşuadjacent, neighboring
- sınırdaşadjacent, neighboring
- ardışıkconnecting without a break
- kitapconnecting without a break
- elmaconnecting without a break
- ekmekconnecting without a break
- yolconnecting without a break
- telefonconnecting without a break
- yardımconnecting without a break
- lütfenconnecting without a break
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with contiguous
All rhymes →Cite this entry
contiguous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contiguous
“contiguous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contiguous. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “contiguous,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contiguous.
Source: contiguous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.