Contingency

C O N S I D E R:

An Existence, occurrence, character conditional [on or upon . . . . ]

Neither necessary nor impossible

dependent

Conditional

Fortuitous

Accidental

Chance

Incidental

R  E  F  E  R  E  N  C  E  S 

2 Contingent n [1548] 1: something contingent: contingency 2: a representative group: Delegation, Detachment

Contingency n [1561] 1: the quality or state of being contingent 2: a contingent event or condition: as a: an event [as an emergency] that may but is not certain to occur [trying to provide for every __] b: something liable to happen as an adjunct to or result of something else -syn. see Juncture

Contingency table n [ca. 1947]: a table of data in whihc the row entries tabulate the data according to one variable and the column entries tabulate it according to another variable and which is used esp. in the study of the correlation between variables

[Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th Edition. Springfield, MA, USA: Merriam-Webster, Inc. 1995.]

Contingent 1. dependent for existence, occurrence, character, etc., on something not yet certain; conditional [often fol. by on or upon]: Our plans are contingent on the weather. 2. happening by chance or without known cause; fortuitous; accidental. 3. Logic. [of a proposition] neither logically necessary nor logically impossible. -4. a quota of troops furnished. 5. any one of the representative groups composing an assemblage. 6. something contingent; contingency. [late ME < L contingent- (s. of contingéns, prp. of contingere) = con- CON- + ting-, var. s. of tang(ere) (to) touch + -ent- -ENT]

Contingency 1. dependence on chance or on the fulfillment of a condition. 2. an uncertain event; chance; possibility: He was prepared for every contingency. 3. something incidental.