contact

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

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.

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 Bulgarian: допир (bg) m. Chinese: Luxembourgish: Kontakt (lb) m. Mandarin: trad. 接觸, simpl. 接触 (jiēchù) 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) Mandarin: trad. 接觸, simpl. 接触 (jiēchù) Polish: kontakt (pl) m. Portuguese: contato m. (Brazil), contacto m. (Portugal) 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 Bulgarian: свързване (bg) n., контакт (bg) 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, kontakti, yhteys French: contact (fr) m. German: Kontakt (de) m., Verbindung (de) f.

Greek: επικοινωνία (el) (epikinonía) f. Hungarian: kapcsolat (hu) Icelandic: samband (is) n. Italian: contatto (it) m. Japanese: 接触 (ja) (sesshoku) Kurdish: په‌یوه‌ند (ku) (peywend) Luxembourgish: Kontakt (lb) m. Polish: kontakt (pl) m. Portuguese: contato m. (Brazil), contacto m. (Portugal) 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) 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) 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) 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) 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, yhteyshenkilö 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: په‌یوه‌ند (ku) (peywend) Polish: kontakt (pl) m. Portuguese: contato m. (Brazil), contacto m. (Portugal) 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), допирам се (bg) Chinese: Mandarin: trad. 接觸, simpl. 接触 (jiēchù) Dutch: aanraken (nl) Finnish: koskea (fi) French: toucher (fr)

German: berühren (de) Ido: kontaktar Japanese: 接触する (ja) (sesshoku suru), 接続する (ja) (setsuzoku suru) Luxembourgish: beréieren (lb) Portuguese: entrar em contato, tocar Telugu: అంటుకొను (aMTukonu), ముట్టుకొను (muTTukonu), తాకు (taaku)

establish communication with

Bulgarian: свързвам се (bg) Chinese: Mandarin: trad. 聯繫, simpl. 联系 (liánxì) Czech: kontaktovat (cs) Danish: kontakte (da) Dutch: contacteren (nl) Esperanto: kontakti (eo) Finnish: ottaa yhteyttä, ottaa yhteys 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) Polish: kontaktować (się) (pl) impf., skontaktować (się) (pl) pf. Portuguese: entrar em contato, contatar, contactar 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 Swedish: kontakta (sv) Telugu: సంపర్కించు (saMparkiMchu)

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

contact n. (plural contacten, ^??? please provide the diminutive!)

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