osculation

O1S1C3U1L1A1T1I1O1N1
UK/ˌɒs.kjʊˈleɪ.ʃən/UK/ˌɒs.kjəˈleɪ.ʃən/US/ˌɑs.kjuˈleɪ.ʃən/US/ˌɑs.kjəˈleɪ.ʃən/

noun

The action of kissing.

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Scrabble 12

Meanings

nounosculation (countable and uncountable, plural osculations)

plural osculations

  1. countableuncountableThe action of kissing.
  2. countableuncountableA kiss.

    The Major she held to be a sort of Bayard among Majors: and as for her son Arthur she worshipped that youth with an ardour which the young scapegrace accepted almost as coolly as the statue of the Saint in Saint Peter’s receives the rapturous osculations which the faithful deliver on his toe.

    1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, “A Pedigree and Other Family Matters”, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume I, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849, →OCLC, page 15
  3. countableuncountableA close contact.
  4. countableuncountablemathematicsA contact between curves or surfaces, at which point they have a common tangent.
  5. VediccountableuncountablearithmeticThe determination of whether a number is divisible by another by means of certain operations on its digits.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounthe act of caressing with the lips (or an instance thereof)

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Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinōsculātiō“a kissing”
  2. Englishosculation

From Latin ōsculātiō (“a kissing”), from ōsculor (“to kiss”). By surface analysis, osculate + -ion.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian оскулация
  • оскулация (oskulacija)a contact between curves or surfaces
Polish styczność
  • stycznośća contact between curves or surfaces
Swedish oskulation
  • oskulationa contact between curves or surfaces

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with osculation

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

osculation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/osculation

MLA

“osculation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/osculation. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “osculation,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/osculation.

Source: osculation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.