Word Of The Day

contingency

kənˈtɪndʒ(ə)nsi/

noun

1. a future event or circumstance which is possible but cannot be predicted with certainty.

   "a detailed contract which attempts to provide for all possible contingencies"

   synonyms:

   eventuality, (chance) event, incident, happening, occurrence, juncture,possibility, accident, chance, emergency;  uncertainty;  rarefortuity "a detailed contract which attempts to provide for all possible contingencies"

   • a provision for a possible event or circumstance.

     "stores were kept as a contingency against a blockade"
   • an incidental expense.

     "allow an extra fifteen per cent on the budget for contingencies"
   • 1. • PHILOSOPHY

          the absence of necessity; the fact of being so without having to be so.

     Origin

     

     mid 16th century (in the philosophical sense): from late Latin contingentia (in its medieval Latin sense ‘circumstance’), from contingere ‘befall’ (see contingent).