contiguous

adjective con·tig·u·ous \kən-ˈti-gyə-wəs, -gyü-əs\

—used to describe things that touch each other or are immediately next to each other

Full Definition of CONTIGUOUS

: being in actual contact : touching along a boundary or at a point

of angles : adjacent 2

: next or near in time or sequence

: touching or connected throughout in an unbroken sequence <contiguous row houses>

— con·tig·u·ous·ly adverb

— con·tig·u·ous·ness noun

See contiguous defined for English-language learners

See contiguous defined for kids

Examples of CONTIGUOUS

And in the west, contiguous to Lebanon, was the mountain stronghold of Latakia … —Robert D. Kaplan, Atlantic, February 1993
The Santa Monica Mountains, a sort of foot-note to the big contiguous ranges, stood off to the southwest of us, discrete and small. —John McPhee, New Yorker, 26 Sept. 1988
‘I've had my men looking into the land situation … and they think they could get us an additional thirty thousand acres, not all of it contiguous but we might make some trades.’ —James A. Michener, Texas, 1985
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Origin of CONTIGUOUS

Latin contiguus, from contingere to have contact with — more at contingent

First Known Use: circa 1609

Related to CONTIGUOUS

Synonyms: abutting, adjoining, bordering, conterminous, adjacent, flanking, flush, fringing, joining, juxtaposed, neighboring, skirting, touching, verging

Antonyms: nonadjacent, noncontiguous

Synonym Discussion of CONTIGUOUS

adjacent, adjoining, contiguous, juxtaposed mean being in close proximity. adjacent may or may not imply contact but always implies absence of anything of the same kind in between <a house with an adjacent garage>. adjoining definitely implies meeting and touching at some point or line <had adjoining rooms at the hotel>. contiguous implies having contact on all or most of one side <offices in all 48 contiguous states>. juxtaposed means placed side by side especially so as to permit comparison and contrast <a skyscraper juxtaposed to a church>.