Contingent

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: con=tin=gent

CIDE DICTIONARY

Contingent, a. [L. contingens, -entis, p. pr. of contingere to touch on all sides, to happen; con- + tangere to touch: cf. F. contingent. See Tangent, Tact.].

•  Possible, or liable, but not certain, to occur; incidental; casual.  [1913 Webster]

  "Weighing so much actual crime against so much contingent advantage."  [1913 Webster]
•  Dependent on that which is undetermined or unknown; as, the success of his undertaking is contingent upon events which he can not control.  Tillotson.  [1913 Webster]
•  Dependent for effect on something that may or may not occur; as, a contingent estate.  [1913 Webster]

  "If a contingent legacy be left to any one when he attains, or if he attains, the age of twenty-one."  [1913 Webster]

Contingent, n. 

•  An event which may or may not happen; that which is unforeseen, undetermined, or dependent on something future; a contingency.  [1913 Webster]

  "His understanding could almost pierce into future contingents."  [1913 Webster]
•  That which falls to one in a division or apportionment among a number; a suitable share; proportion; esp., a quota of troops.  [1913 Webster]

  "From the Alps to the border of Flanders, contingents were required . . . 200,000 men were in arms."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Contingent, adj. & n.
--adj.
1 (usu. foll. by on, upon) conditional, dependent (on an uncertain event or circumstance).
2 associated.
3 (usu. foll. by to) incidental.
4 a that may or may not occur. b fortuitous; occurring by chance.
5 true only under existing or specified conditions.
--n. a body (esp. of troops, ships, etc.) forming part of a larger group.

Derivative

contingently adv.

Etymology

L contingere (as COM-, tangere touch)

THESAURUS

Contingent

accessory, accident, accidental, addendum, addition, additional, adjunct, adscititious, adventitious, adventure, age group, aleatory, allotment, allowance, appendage, appurtenance, appurtenant, ascititious, at issue, auxiliary, band, based on, battalion, bevy, big end, bigger half, bit, bite, body, boxed in, brigade, brushing, budget, bunch, cabal, cast, casual, casualty, causeless, chance, chance hit, chancy, chunk, circumscribed by, circumstantial, clique, cogitable, cohort, collateral, coming, coming to be, commission, company, complement, component, conceivable, conceivably possible, conditional, conditioned, contacting, contingency, contingent on, corps, coterie, covey, crew, cross section, crowd, cut, deal, dependent, dependent on, depending, depending on, depending on circumstances, destinal, destiny, detachment, detail, dicey, dividend, division, dole, end, equal share, event, eventual, eventuality, eventuation, extra, faction, fatal, fate, fatidic, final, fleet, fluke, fluky, fortuitous, fortuity, fraction, freak accident, gang, glancing, grazing, group, grouping, groupment, half, halver, hap, happening, happenstance, hazard, hedged about by, helping, hinging on, humanly possible, iffy, imaginable, impingent, impinging, in contact, in question, in suspense, in the balance, in-group, incidence, incident to, incidental, incidental to, indeterminate, indirect, inessential, installment, interest, item, junta, last, likely, long odds, long shot, lot, lucky shot, materialization, measure, meed, meeting, mere chance, mess, mob, modicum, moiety, movement, nonessential, not-self, nudging, occasional, odd, open, osculatory, other, out-group, outfit, pack, parcel, part, particular, party, peer group, pendent, pending, percentage, phalanx, piece, platoon, plausible, portion, posse, possible, potential, predicated on, probable, proportion, provisional, quadrant, quantum, quarter, quota, rake-off, random sample, ration, realization, regiment, relative, reliant, remainder, revolving on, risky, rubbing, salon, sample, sampling, secondary, section, sector, segment, set, share, slice, small share, squad, stable, stake, steady, stock, string, subdivision, subgroup, subject to, subsidiary, subspecies, superadded, superaddition, superfluous, supervenient, supplement, supplemental, supplementary, suspenseful, tangent, tangential, team, thinkable, touching, tribe, troop, troupe, turning on, ultimate, unanticipated, uncaused, uncounted, undecided, undetermined, unessential, unestablished, unexpected, unfixed, unforeseeable, unforeseen, unlooked-for, unpredictable, unsettled, untold, up for grabs, wing

ROGET THESAURUS

Contingent

Extrinsicality

N extrinsicality, objectiveness, non ego, extraneousness, accident, appearance, phenomenon, derived from without, objective, extrinsic, extrinsical, extraneous, modal, adventitious, ascititious, adscititious, incidental, accidental, nonessential, contingent, fortuitous, implanted, ingrafted, inculcated, infused, outward, apparent, extrinsically.

Circumstance

N circumstance, situation, phase, position, posture, attitude, place, point, terms, regime, footing, standing, status, occasion, juncture, conjunctive, contingency, predicament, emergence, emergency, exigency, crisis, pinch, pass, push, occurrence, turning point, bearings, how the land lies, surroundings, context, environment, location, contingency, dependence (uncertainty), causation, attribution, circumstantial, given, conditional, provisional, critical, modal, contingent, incidental, adventitious, limitative, in the circumstances, under the circumstances, the circumstances, conditions, thus, in such wise, accordingly, that being the case, such being the case, in view of the circumstances, that being so, sith, since, seeing that, as matters stand, as things go, as times go, conditionally, provided, if, in case, if so, if so be, if it be so, depending on circumstances, in certain circumstances, under certain conditions, if it so happen, if it so turn out, in the event of, in such a contingency, in such a case, in such an event, provisionally, unless, without, according to circumstances, according to the occasion, as it may happen, as it may turn out, as it may be, as the case may be, as the wind blows, pro re nata, yet are my sins not those of circumstance.

Apportionment

N apportionment, allotment, consignment, assignment, appointment, appropriation, dispensation, distribution, division, deal, repartition, partition, administration, dividend, portion, contingent, share, allotment, fair share, allocation, lot, measure, dose, dole, meed, pittance, quantum, ration, ratio, proportion, quota, modicum, mess, allowance, suerte, apportioning, respective, respectively, each to each.

Expenditure

N expenditure, money going out, out goings, out lay, expenses, disbursement, prime cost, circulation, run upon a bank, payment, pay, bribe, fee, footing, garnish, subsidy, tribute, contingent, quota, donation, pay in advance, earnest, handsel, deposit, installment, investment, purchase, expending, expended, sumptuary, vectigalia nervos esse reipublicae.

Chance

N chance, lot, fate, luck, good luck, mascot, speculation, venture, stake, game of chance, mere shot, random shot, blind bargain, leap in the dark, pig in a poke, fluke, potluck, faro bank, flyer, limit, uncertainty, uncertainty principle, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, drawing lots, sortilegy, sortition, sortes, sortes Virgilianae, rouge et noir, hazard, ante, chuck-a-luck, crack-loo, craps, faro, roulette, pitch and toss, chuck, farthing, cup tossing, heads or tails cross and pile, poker-dice, wager, bet, betting, gambling, the turf, gaming house, gambling house, betting house, bucket shop, gambling joint, totalizator, totalizer, hell, betting ring, dice, dice box, gambler, gamester, man of the turf, adventurer, dicer, fortuitous, unintentional, unintended, accidental, not meant, undesigned, purposed, unpremeditated, unforeseen, uncontemplated, never thought of, random, indiscriminate, promiscuous, undirected, aimless, driftless, designless, purposeless, causeless, without purpose, possible, unforeseeable, unpredictable, chancy, risky, speculative, dicey, randomly, by chance, fortuitously, unpredictably, unforeseeably, casually, unintentionally, unwittingly, en passant, by the way, incidentally, as it may happen, at random, at a venture, at haphazard, acierta errando, dextro tempore, fearful concatenation of circumstances, fortuitous combination of circumstances, le jeu est le fils d'avarice et le pere du desespo, the happy combination of fortuitous circumstances, the fortuitous or casual concourse of atoms, God does not play dice with the universe, chance, indetermination, accident, fortune, hazard, hap, haphazard, chance medley, random, luck, raccroc, casualty, contingence, adventure, hit, fate, equal chance, lottery, tombola, toss up, turn of the table, turn of the cards, hazard of the die, chapter of accidents, fickle finger of fate, cast of the dice, throw of the dice, heads or tails, flip of a coin, wheel of Fortune, sortes, sortes Virgilianae, probability, possibility, odds, long odds, run of luck, accidentalness, main chance, odds on, favorable odds, contingency, dependence (uncertainty), situation (circumstance), statistics, theory of Probabilities, theory of Chances, bookmaking, assurance, speculation, gaming, casual, fortuitous, accidental, adventitious, causeless, incidental, contingent, uncaused, undetermined, indeterminate, random, statistical, possible, unintentional, by chance, accidentally, by accident, casually, perchance, for aught one knows, as good would have it, as bad would have it, as luck would have it, as ill-luck would have it, as chance would have it, as it may be, as it may chance, as it may turn up, as it may happen, as the case may be, grasps the skirts of happy chance, the accident of an accident, There but for the grace of God go I.

Liability

N liability, liableness, possibility, contingency, susceptivity, susceptibility, exposure, liable, subject, in danger, open to, exposed to, obnoxious to, answerable, unexempt from, apt to, dependent on, incident to, contingent, incidental, possible, on the cards, within range of, at the mercy of.

Qualification

N qualification, limitation, modification, coloring, allowance, grains of allowance, consideration, extenuating circumstances, mitigation, condition, proviso, prerequisite, contingency, stipulation, provision, specification, sine qua non, catch, string, strings attached, exemption, exception, escape clause, salvo, saving clause, discount, restriction, fine print, qualifying, qualified, conditioned, restricted, hedged, conditional, exceptional, hypothetical, contingent, provided, provided that, provided always, if, unless, but, yet, according as, conditionally, admitting, supposing, on the supposition of, with the understanding, even, although, though, for all that, after all, at all events, approximately, in a limited degree (smallness), somewhat, sort of, something like that, to a certain extent, to a degree, in a sense, so to speak, with grains of allowance, cum grano salis, with a grain of salt, exceptis excipiendis, wind and weather permitting, if possible, subject to, conditioned upon, with this proviso, if the good lord is willing and the creeks don't r, catch-, Degrees of Evidence.

Uncertainty

N uncertainty, incertitude, doubt, doubtfulness, dubiety, dubitation, dubitancy, dubitousness, hesitation, suspense, perplexity, embarrassment, dilemma, bewilderment, timidity, vacillation, diaporesis, indetermination, vagueness, haze, fog, obscurity, ambiguity, contingency, dependence, dependency, double contingency, possibility upon a possibility, open question, onus probandi, blind bargain, pig in a poke, leap in the dark, something or other, needle in a haystack, needle in a bottle of hay, roving commission, precariousness, fallibility, uncertain, casual, random, changeable, doubtful, dubious, indecisive, unsettled, undecided, undetermined, in suspense, open to discussion, controvertible, in question, vague, indeterminate, indefinite, ambiguous, equivocal, undefined, undefinable, confused, mystic, oracular, dazed, perplexing, enigmatic, paradoxical, apocryphal, problematical, hypothetical, experimental, unpredictable, unforeseeable (unknowable), fallible, questionable, precarious, slippery, ticklish, debatable, disputable, unreliable, untrustworthy, contingent, contingent on, dependent on, subject to, dependent on circumstances, occasional, provisional, unauthentic, unauthenticated, unauthoritative, unascertained, unconfirmed, undemonstrated, untold, uncounted, in a state of uncertainty, in a cloud, in a maze, bushed, off the track, ignorant, afraid to say, out of one's reckoning, astray, adrift, at sea, at fault, at a loss, at one's wit's end, at a nonplus, puzzled, lost, abroad, d_esorient_e, distracted, distraught, pendente lite, sub spe rati, Heaven knows, who can tell? who shall decide when doctors disagr.