Other forms: contingents
A contingent is a body of troops or people sent from a larger group. A small contingent, the British contingent, send a contingent.
It names a detachment supplied to a joint effort — a national contingent in a coalition, a contingent of supporters at an away match. As an adjective, contingent means depending on something else: contingent on approval, a contingent liability. In philosophy, a contingent truth is one that happens to be true but need not have been, against a necessary one. Note contingency, meaning a possible future event.
1nouncontingentA body of troops or people sent from a larger group.
“A small contingent of nurses was sent from the capital to help after the earthquake.”
2adjectivedependingDepending on something else happening.
“Your job offer is contingent on a clean medical check.”
contingent is a detachment, or a dependency.
Latin contingens comes from contingere, to touch or to happen — com plus tangere, to touch. Contact, tangible and contagion come from the same touching.
Medieval Latin
contingens — possible, contingent
Old French
contingent
English, today
contingent
Built from
From Middle English -, from Old French contingent (whence con- and -ent), from Medieval Latin contingens (“possible, contingent”), present participle of contingo (“to touch, meet, attain to, happen”), from com- (“together”) + tango (“to touch”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA