Contingent vs Absolute - What's the difference?
contingent | absolute |
An event which may or may not happen; that which is unforeseen, undetermined, or dependent on something future; a contingency.
That which falls to one in a division or apportionment among a number; a suitable share; proportion;
a quota of troops.
* 2014 , Ian Black, "
Possible or liable, but not certain to occur; incidental; casual.
(with upon ) Dependent on something that is undetermined or unknown.
Dependent on something that may or may not occur.
Not logically necessarily true or false.
(obsolete) Absolved; free.
(obsolete) Disengaged from accidental circumstances.
(archaic) Complete in itself; perfect.
* (rfdate) :
(grammar) Not immediately dependent on the other parts of the sentence; as
# (of a case form) syntactically connected to the rest of the sentence in an atypical manner; ablative absolute; nominative absolute; genitive absolute; accusative absolute.
# standing by itself in a loose syntactical connection, and qualifying the sentence as a whole rather than any single word in it.
# (of an adjective or possessive pronoun) lacking a modified substantive.
# (comparative, superlative) expressing a relative term without a definite comparison.'
# having no direct object.
# (Irish, Welsh) an inflected verb that is not preceded by any number of articles or compounded with a preverb.
(obsolete) Absorbed in, as an occupation.
Unrestricted; in sole control; possessing absolute power; independent, as in ownership or authority.
Pure; unmixed; as, absolute alcohol.
(figurative) Complete; utter; outright; unmitigated; entire; total; not qualified or diminished in any way; unrestricted; without limitation.
Unconditional; free from any conditions, limitations, and relations;
# having unlimited power, without limits set by a constitution, parliament, or other means.
# proceeding from or characteristic of an absolute ruler.
* 1962 , Hannah Arendt, On Revolution , (1990), page 155:
# Absolutist; arbitrary; despotic.
Real; actual.
(archaic) Certain; free from doubt or uncertainty, as a person or prediction.
* (rfdate) (William Shakespeare), Cymbeline , Act 4, Scene 2:
Positive; unquestionable; peremptory.
Free from conditional limitations; operating or existing in full under all circumstances without variation.
(philosophy) Existing, able to be thought of, or able to be viewed without relation to other things.
* (rfdate) :
Authoritative; peremptory.
* (rfdate) :
(philosophy) Fundamental; ultimate; intrinsic; free from the variability and error natural to the human way of thinking and perception.
(physics) Independent of arbitrary units of measurement not comparative or relative as,
# having reference to or derived from the simplest manner from the fundamental units of mass, time, and length.
# relating to the absolute temperature scale.
(legal) Complete; unconditional; final; without encumbrances; not liable to change or cancellation.
(education) Pertaining to a grading system based on the knowledge of the individual and not on the comparative knowledge of the group of students.
(art) Concerned entirely with expressing beauty and feelings, lacking meaningful reference.
(dance) Utilizing the body to express ideas, independent of music and costumes.
(math) Indicating an expression that is true for all real number; unconditional.
That which is independent of context-dependent interpretation, inviolate, fundamental.
Anything that is absolute.
(geometry) In a plane, the two imaginary circular points at infinity; in space of three dimensions, the imaginary circle at infinity.
(philosophy, usually capitalized) A realm which exists without reference to anything else; that which can be imagined purely by itself; absolute ego.
* 1983 , (Lawrence Durrell), Sebastian'', Faber & Faber 2004 (''Avignon Quintet ), page 1039:
(philosophy, usually capitalized) The unity of spirit and nature; God.
(philosophy, usually capitalized) The whole of reality; the totality to which everything is reduced.
Concentrated natural flower oil, used for perfumes.
As nouns the difference between contingent and absolute
is that contingent is an event which may or may not happen; that which is unforeseen, undetermined, or dependent on something future; a contingency while absolute is that which is independent of context-dependent interpretation, inviolate, fundamental.As adjectives the difference between contingent and absolute
is that contingent is possible or liable, but not certain to occur; incidental; casual while absolute is absolved; free.contingent
English
Noun
(en noun)Courts kept busy as Jordan works to crush support for Isis", The Guardian , 27 November 2014:
- Arrests and prosecutions intensified after Isis captured Mosul in June, but the groundwork had been laid by an earlier amendment to Jordan’s anti-terrorism law. It is estimated that 2,000 Jordanians have fought and 250 of them have died in Syria – making them the third largest Arab contingent in Isis after Saudi Arabians and Tunisians.
Adjective
(en adjective)- The success of his undertaking is contingent upon events which he can not control.
- a contingent estate
Synonyms
* (possible but not certain to occur) incidentalAntonyms
* (possible but not certain to occur) certain, inevitable, necessary, impossibleExternal links
* * *Anagrams
* ----absolute
English
Alternative forms
*Adjective
(en-adj)- So absolute she seems, And in herself complete.
- Anyhow in 'anyhow, I made it home' is an absolute .
- Hungry in 'Feed the hungry.'
- Older in 'An older person should be treated with respect.
- Kill in 'If looks could kill...'
- When caught, he told an absolute lie.
- the more absolute' the ruler, the more ' absolute the revolution will be which replaces him.
- I am absolute ’t was very Cloten.
- absolute motion
- absolute time or space
- Absolute rights and duties are such as pertain to man in a state of nature as contradistinguished from ''relative'' rights and duties, or such as pertain to him in his social relations.
- To Cusa we can indeed articulately trace, word and thing, the recent philosophy of the absolute .
- The peddler stopped, and tapped her on the head, With absolute forefinger, brown and ringed.
Derived terms
* ablative absolute * absolute address * absolute curvature * absolute equation * absolute magnitude * absolute majority * absolute monarchy * absolute music * absolute pitch * absolute power * absolute space * absolute term * absolute temperature * absolute value * absolute zeroSynonyms
* categorical, unconditional, unlimited, unrestricted * (having unlimited power) autocratic, despotic * (complete in itself) fixed * (able to be viewed without relation to other things) independentAntonyms
* conditional, limited * (able to be viewed without relation to other things) relative, dependentNoun
(en noun)- moral absolutes
- Withdrawn as a Buddha he sat, watching the alien world from his perch in the absolute .