contact

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ækt

Etymology

From Latin contactus, from contingere (to touch on all sides), from tangere (to touch). Used in English since the 17th Century.

Noun

contact (plural contacts)

1. The act of touching physically.
2. The establishment of communication (with).

   I haven't been in contact with her for years.

3. A nodule designed to connect a device with something else.

   Touch the contact to ground and read the number again.

4. Someone with whom one is in communication.

   The salesperson had a whole binder full of contacts for potential clients.

5. (informal) A contact lens.
6. (electricity) a device designed for repetitive connections.
7. (informal, by ellipsis) Contact juggling.

   I bought myself a new contact ball last week

Derived terms

• body contact
• contact hitter
• contact information
• contactable
• eye contact
• first contact
• point of contact / POC

Translations

an act of touching physically

• American Sign Language: Open8@Finger-TipUp-Open8@CenterChesthigh-TipUp Contact
• Arabic: مُلامَسَه (ar)
• Bulgarian: допир (bg) (dopir) m
• Chinese:
• Czech: kontakt (cs) m, dotek (cs) m
• Danish: kontakt (da), forbindelse (da)
• Dutch: contact (nl)
• Finnish: kosketus (fi), kontakti (fi)
• French: contact (fr) m
• German: Kontakt (de) m, Berührung (de) f
• Greek: επαφή (el) (epafí) f
• Hungarian: kapcsolat (hu)
• Icelandic: snerting (is) f

• Italian: contatto (it) m
• Japanese: 接触 (ja) (sesshoku)
• Luxembourgish: Kontakt (lb) m

  Mandarin: trad. 接觸, simpl. 接触 (jiēchù)

• Mandarin: trad. 接觸, simpl. 接触 (jiēchù)
• Persian: لمس (fa) (lams), تماس (fa) (tamâs)
• Polish: kontakt (pl) m
• Portuguese: (Brazil) contato (pt) m, (Portugal) contacto (pt) m
• Romanian: contact (ro), atingere (ro)
• Russian: контакт (ru) (kontákt) m
• Spanish: contacto (es) m
• Tamil: தொடல் (ta) (thodal)
• Volapük: kontag (vo)

an establishment of communication

• American Sign Language: Open8@Finger-TipUpPalmForward-Open8@CenterChesthigh-TipUpPalmBack Contact
• Arabic: إتِّصال (ar)
• Bulgarian: свързване (bg) (svǎrzvane) n, контакт (bg) (kontakt) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: trad. 聯繫, simpl. 联系 (liánxì), trad. 交往, simpl. 交往 (jiāowǎng), trad. 通訊, simpl. 通讯 (tōngxùn)

• Czech: kontakt (cs), spojení (cs)
• Dutch: contact (nl)
• Finnish: yhteydenotto (fi), kontakti (fi), yhteys (fi)
• French: contact (fr) m
• German: Kontakt (de) m, Verbindung (de) f
• Greek: επικοινωνία (el) (epikinonía) f
• Hindi: संपर्क (hi)

• Hungarian: kapcsolat (hu)
• Icelandic: samband (is) n
• Italian: contatto (it) m
• Japanese: 接触 (ja) (sesshoku), 連絡 (ja) (renraku)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: په‌یوه‌ند (ku) (peywend)

• Luxembourgish: Kontakt (lb) m
• Persian: تماس (fa) (tamâs)
• Polish: kontakt (pl) m
• Portuguese: (Brazil) contato (pt) m, (Portugal) contacto (pt) m
• Romanian: legătură (ro) f
• Russian: контакт (ru) (kontákt) m, связь (ru) (sv'az')
• Tamil: தொடர்பு (ta) (thodarbu)

colloquial: a contact lens

See contact lens

• American Sign Language: Open8@Cheek-PalmBack Open8@Cheek-PalmBack
• Bulgarian: контактна леща (bg) (kontaktna lešta)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: trad. 隱形眼鏡, simpl. 隐形眼镜 (yǐnxíngyǎnjìng)

• Czech: čočka (cs) f
• Finnish: piilolinssi (fi)
• French: lentille (fr) f

• German: Kontaktlinse (de) f
• Hungarian: kontaktlencse (hu)
• Japanese: コンタクト (ja) (kontakuto)
• Luxembourgish: Kontaktlëns (lb) f
• Polish: szkło kontaktowe (pl) n
• Portuguese: lente de contato (pt) f
• Volapük: kontagalentül (vo)

electrical: a device designed for repetitive connections

• Bulgarian: контакт (bg) (kontakt)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: trad. 觸點, simpl. 触点 (chùdiǎn)

• Finnish: liitin (fi)
• French: contact (fr) m

• Japanese: 接点 (ja) (setten), 端子 (ja) (tanshi)
• Persian: تماس (fa) (tamâs)
• Polish: kontakt (pl) m
• Russian: контакт (ru) (kontákt) m

someone with whom one is in communication

• American Sign Language: Open8@Finger-TipUp-Open8@CenterChesthigh-TipUp Contact
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: trad. 聯繫, simpl. 联系 (liánxì)

• Finnish: kontakti (fi), yhteyshenkilö (fi)
• French: contact (fr) m, connaissance (fr) f
• Greek: σύνδεσμος (el) (sindesmos) m, επαφή (el) (epafí) f
• Hungarian: kapcsolattartó (hu)
• Icelandic: tengiliður (is) m

• Italian: contatto (it) m
• Japanese: 連絡先 (ja) (renraku-saki), お問い合わせ (ja) (o toiawase)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: په‌یوه‌ند (ku) (peywend)

• Persian: مخاطب (fa) (moxâtab)
• Polish: kontakt (pl) m
• Portuguese: (Brazil) contato (pt) m, (Portugal) contacto (pt) m
• Russian: контакт (ru) (kontákt) m, связной (ru) (sv'aznój)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

• Korean: 접촉
• Spanish: contacto m

Verb

contact (third-person singular simple present contacts, present participle contacting, simple past and past participle contacted)

1. (transitive) To touch; to come into physical contact with.

   The side of the car contacted the pedestrian.

2. (transitive) To establish communication with something or someone

   I am trying to contact my sister.

Translations

touch physically

• Bulgarian: докосвам (bg) (dokosvam), допирам се (bg) (dopiram se)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: trad. 接觸, simpl. 接触 (jiēchù)

• Dutch: aanraken (nl)
• Finnish: koskea (fi)
• French: toucher (fr)
• German: berühren (de)

• Ido: kontaktar (io)
• Japanese: 接触する (ja) (sesshoku suru), 接続する (ja) (setsuzoku suru)
• Luxembourgish: beréieren (lb)
• Persian: لمس کردن (fa) (lams kardan)
• Portuguese: entrar em contato (pt), tocar (pt)
• Telugu: అంటుకొను (te) (aMTukonu), ముట్టుకొను (te) (muTTukonu), తాకు (te) (taaku)

establish communication with

• Bulgarian: свързвам се (bg) (svǎrzvam se)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: trad. 聯繫, simpl. 联系 (liánxì)

• Czech: kontaktovat (cs)
• Danish: kontakte (da)
• Dutch: contacteren (nl)
• Esperanto: kontakti (eo)
• Finnish: ottaa yhteyttä (fi), ottaa yhteys (fi)
• French: contacter (fr)
• German: kontaktieren (de)
• Hebrew: יצר קשר (he) (yatsár késher)
• Icelandic: hafa samband við (is)
• Italian: contattare (it)

• Japanese: 連絡する (ja) (renraku suru)
• Luxembourgish: kontaktéieren (lb)
• Norwegian: kontakte (no)
• Persian: تماس گرفتن (fa) (tamâs gereftan)
• Polish: kontaktować (się) (pl) impf., skontaktować (się) (pl) pf.
• Portuguese: entrar em contato (pt), contatar (pt), contactar (pt)
• Romanian: a contacta (ro)
• Russian: контактировать (ru) (kontaktírovat') impf. and pf., связываться (ru) (sv'ázyvat's'a) impf., связаться (ru) (sv'azát's'a) pf.
• Spanish: contactar (es), entrar en contacto con (es)
• Swedish: kontakta (sv)
• Telugu: సంపర్కించు (te) (saMparkiMchu)

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

contact n (plural contacten, diminutive contactje)

1. contact

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin contactus.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kɔ̃takt/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

contact m (plural contacts)

1. (physical) contact; contact (with another person)
2. contact (person that one knows)
3. rapport

   Vous avez un bon contact avec les enfants - you have a good rapport with children