contingent
adjective
- Obsolete touching; tangential
- that may or may not happen; possible
- happening by chance; accidental; fortuitous
- unpredictable because dependent on chance
- dependent (on or upon something uncertain); conditional
- Logic true only under certain conditions or in certain contexts; not always or necessarily true
- Philos. not subject to determinism; free
noun
- Now Rare an accidental or chance happening
- a share or quota, as of troops, laborers, delegates, etc.
- a group forming part of a larger group
See contingent in American Heritage Dictionary 4
(kən-tĭnˈjənt)
adjective- Liable to occur but not with certainty; possible: “All salaries are reckoned on contingent as well as on actual services” (Ralph Waldo Emerson).
- Dependent on conditions or occurrences not yet established; conditional: arms sales contingent on the approval of Congress. See Synonyms at dependent.
- Happening by chance or accident; fortuitous. See Synonyms at accidental.
- Logic True only under certain conditions; not necessarily or universally true: a contingent proposition.
noun- An event or condition that is likely but not inevitable.
- A share or quota, as of troops, contributed to a general effort.
- A representative group forming part of an assemblage.
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