contingency

English

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kənˈtɪndʒənsi/, SAMPA: /k@n"tIndZ@nsi/

Etymology

contingent +‎ -cy (16th century).

Noun

contingency (countable and uncountable; plural contingencies)

1. (uncountable) The quality of being contingent, of happening by chance; unpredictability. [1560s]
2. (countable) A possibility; something which may or may not happen. A chance occurrence, especially in (finance), unexpected expenses. [1610s]
3. (countable) An amount of money which a party to a contract has to pay to the other party (usually the supplier of a major project to the client) if he or she does not fulfill the contract according to the specification.
4. (logic, countable) A statement which is neither a tautology nor a contradiction.

Synonyms

• possibility
• See also Wikisaurus:option

Antonyms

• (being contingent): necessity
• (possibility): necessity

Coordinate terms

• (statement which is neither a tautology nor a contradiction): contradiction, tautology

Derived terms

• contingency plan

Translations

quality of being contingent; unpredictability

Bulgarian: непредвидимост (bg) f. Dutch: contingentie (nl) f., onvoorspelbaarheid (nl) f. Finnish: epävarmuus, ennustamattomuus German: Kontingenz (de) f. Italian: contingenza (it)

Kurdish: Sorani: هه‌ڵکه‌وتووی (ku) (helkewtuí) Serbo-Croatian: kontingentnost (sh) Spanish: contingencia (es)

possibility; something which may or may not happen

Dutch: contingentie (nl) f. Finnish: mahdollinen tapahtuma German: Kontingenz (de) f.

Italian: contingenza (it) Serbo-Croatian: kontingencija (sh)

amount of money that will be paid if a project does not succeed

Finnish: sopimussakko (fi)

Japanese: 成功報酬 (seikō-hōshū)