Weekly Word: Contiguous
Contiguous is an adjective that means “touching”, “adjacent”, or “near” — either physically or with respect to time.
It comes straight from the Latin word contiguus, a combination of com-, “together”, and tangere, “to touch”.
I like this word because of the overarching, fundamental concept it represents. Just take a look at Wikipedia’s page on Contiguity to see its specific meanings in different areas of study. It shows up in everything from physics to psychology!
But contiguous shows up most often in the phrase “the contiguous United States”, which refers to the 48 states “on the North American continent south of the border with Canada, plus the District of Columbia” (Wikipedia).
July 23rd, 2009
Awesome word! I’m a really big nerd too, not for technology or action figures but just for reading and learning! Oh! here is a word”Lugubrious”. It means sad, depressing.And here is a cool fact Marie Antoinnette was born in Vienna,Austria. sorry if my spelling is bad
July 27th, 2009
Hey, Anneliese, thanks for sharing! Lugubrious is a great word to know. Probably an SAT word, hehe. If you find any more interesting words, please share them!