Wiktionary

contact

English

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Etymology

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From Latin contactus, from contingō (“I touch on all sides”), from tangō (“I touch”). Used in English since the 17th century.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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contact (countable and uncountable, plural contacts)

  1. The act of touching physically; being in close association.
    • 1935, George Goodchild, chapter 1, in Death on the Centre Court:
      She mixed furniture with the same fatal profligacy as she mixed drinks, and this outrageous contact between things which were intended by Nature to be kept poles apart gave her an inexpressible thrill.
  2. The establishment of communication (with).
    I haven't been in contact with her for years.
    • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
      In the old days, […] he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned. But he had then none of the oddities and mannerisms which I hold to be inseparable from genius, and which struck my attention in after days when I came in contact with the Celebrity.
  3. The situation of being within sight of something; visual contact.
    • 1983, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Government Activities and Transportation Subcommittee, Hazardous Obstructions at San Francisco Airport, page 126:
      If the pilot […] cannot establish visual contact with the ground, he must immediately execute a missed-approach procedure […]
  4. A nodule designed to connect a device with something else.
    Touch the contact to ground and read the number again.
  5. Someone who can be contacted, or with whom one is in communication.
    1. (by extension) Means of communication with a person, especially in the form of a telephone number.
    Who is the company's contact for sales queries?
    The salesperson had a whole binder full of contacts for potential clients.
  6. (informal) A contact lens.
  7. (electricity) A device designed for repetitive connections.
  8. (informal, by ellipsis) Contact juggling.
    I bought myself a new contact ball last week
  9. (mining) The plane between two adjacent bodies of dissimilar rock.[1]

Derived terms

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English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *teh₂g- (2 c, 0 e)

Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

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

  1. (transitive, occasionally proscribed) To touch; to come into physical contact with.
    The side of the car contacted the pedestrian.
  2. (transitive, occasionally proscribed) To establish communication with (something or someone).
    I am trying to contact my sister.

Usage notes

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  • The use of contact as a verb is occasionally discountenanced. Nonetheless, its usefulness and popularity have – at least to some extent – worn down resistance.

Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ Rossiter W[orthington] Raymond (1881) “Contact”, in A Glossary of Mining and Metallurgical Terms. […], Easton, Pa.: [American] Institute [of Mining Engineers], […], →OCLC.

Chinese

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Etymology

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From English contact.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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contact

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) contact details

Verb

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contact

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) to contact; to establish communication with

Dutch

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French contact, from Latin contactus.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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contact n (plural contacten, diminutive contactje n)

  1. physical contact, touching
  2. contact (close association)
  3. contact (communication, exchange)
  4. contact (someone with whom communication has been established)

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Afrikaans: kontak
  • → Caribbean Javanese: kontag
  • → Indonesian: kontak
  • → Javanese: ꦏꦺꦴꦤ꧀ꦠꦏ꧀ (kontak)
  • → West Frisian: kontakt

French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin contactus.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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.

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French contact.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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contact n (plural contacte)

  1. contact

Declension

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singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative-accusative contact contactul contacte contactele
genitive-dative contact contactului contacte contactelor
vocative contactule contactelor
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