Contingent
adj, noun ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 An event which may or may not happen; that which is unforeseen, undetermined, or dependent on something in the future.
- 2 a gathering of persons representative of some larger group wordnet
- 3 That which falls to one in a division or apportionment among a number; a suitable share.
- 4 a temporary military unit wordnet
- 5 A quota of troops.
"Arrests and prosecutions intensified after Isis captured Mosul in June, but the groundwork had been laid by an earlier amendment to Jordan’s anti-terrorism law. It is estimated that 2,000 Jordanians have fought and 250 of them have died in Syria – making them the third largest Arab contingent in Isis after Saudi Arabians and Tunisians."
- 1 Possible or liable, but not certain, to occur.
- 2 Dependent on something that is undetermined or unknown, that may or may not occur.
"The success of his undertaking is contingent upon events which he cannot control."
- 3 Not logically necessarily true or false.
- 4 Temporary.
"contingent labor"
- 1 uncertain because of uncontrollable circumstances wordnet
- 2 being determined by conditions or circumstances that follow wordnet
- 3 possible but not certain to occur wordnet
Example
More examples"Our departure tomorrow is contingent on fair weather."
Etymology
From Middle English, from Old French contingent, from Medieval Latin contingens (“possible, contingent”), present participle of contingere (“to touch, meet, attain to, happen”), from com- (“together”) + tangere (“to touch”).
Related phrases
More for "contingent"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.