contiguous

con·tig·u·ous

adjective \kən-ˈti-gyə-wəs, -gyü-əs\

Definition of CONTIGUOUS

1

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

2

of angles : adjacent 2

3

: next or near in time or sequence

4

: touching or connected throughout in an unbroken sequence <contiguous row houses>

— con·tig·u·ous·ly adverb

— con·tig·u·ous·ness noun

Examples of CONTIGUOUS

1. <Connecticut and Massachusetts are contiguous states.>
2. And in the west, contiguous to Lebanon, was the mountain stronghold of Latakia … —Robert D. Kaplan, Atlantic, February 1993
3. 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
4. ‘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

Origin of CONTIGUOUS

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

First Known Use: circa 1609

Related to CONTIGUOUS

Synonyms

abutting, adjoining, bordering, conterminous, adjacent, flanking, flush, fringing, joining, juxtaposed, neighboring, skirting, touching, verging

Antonyms

nonadjacent, noncontiguous

Related Words

approximate, close, closest, immediate, near, nearby, nearest, next-door, nigh; attached, communicating, connected, connecting, interconnecting, joined, linked, united; bounding, circumjacent, embracing, encircling, enclosing (also inclosing), fencing, rimming, surrounding; marginal, peripheral, tangent, tangential; ambient, encompassing

Near Antonyms

apart, detached, disconnected, discrete, free-standing, isolate, isolated, removed, separate, single, unattached, unconnected, unlinked; away, distant, far, faraway, far-off, farthest, remote; discontinuous, noncontinuous; broken up, disjoined, dissevered, dissociated, disunited, divided, divorced, parted, ramified, resolved, severed, split, sundered, uncoupled, unyoked

See Synonym Discussion at adjacent

Rhymes with CONTIGUOUS

ambiguous, exiguous

con·tig·u·ous

adjective \kən-ˈtig-yə-wəs\   (Medical Dictionary)

Medical Definition of CONTIGUOUS

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

—con·ti·gu·ity \ˌkänt-ə-ˈgyü-ət-ē\ noun, plural con·ti·gu·it·ies

—con·tig·u·ous·ly adverb