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Contingent vs Conditional - What's the difference?

contingent | conditional |

As nouns the difference between contingent and conditional

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 conditional is a conditional sentence; a statement that depends on a condition being true or false.

As adjectives the difference between contingent and conditional

is that contingent is possible or liable, but not certain to occur; incidental; casual while conditional is limited by a condition.

contingent

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • 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, " 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)
  • Possible or liable, but not certain to occur; incidental; casual.
  • (with upon ) Dependent on something that is undetermined or unknown.
    • The success of his undertaking is contingent upon events which he can not control.
  • Dependent on something that may or may not occur.
    • a contingent estate
  • Not logically necessarily true or false.

    • Related terms

    * contingence * contingentness * unexpected * unplanned

    Synonyms

    * (possible but not certain to occur) incidental

    Antonyms

    * (possible but not certain to occur) certain, inevitable, necessary, impossible

    Related terms

    * contact * contingence * contingency * contingent claim

    External links

    * * *

    Anagrams

    * ----

    conditional

    English

    Alternative forms

    * conditionall (obsolete)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (grammar) A conditional sentence; a statement that depends on a condition being true or false.
  • (grammar) The conditional mood.
  • (logic) A statement that one sentence is true if another is.
    • "A implies B" is a conditional .
  • * L. H. Atwater
    • Disjunctives may be turned into conditionals .
  • (computing, programming) An instruction that branches depending on the truth of a condition at that point.
    • if and while are conditionals in some programming languages.
  • (obsolete) A limitation.
    • (Francis Bacon)

    Synonyms

    * (in logic) if-then statement; material conditional

    Meronyms

    * (in logic) antecedent * (in logic) consequent

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Limited by a condition.
    • I made my son a conditional promise: I would buy him a bike if he kept his room tidy.
  • * Bishop Warburton
    • Every covenant of God with man may justly be made (as in fact it is made) with this conditional punishment annexed and declared.
  • (logic) Stating that one sentence is true if another is.
    • "A implies B" is a conditional statement.
  • * Whately
    • A conditional proposition is one which asserts the dependence of one categorical proposition on another.
  • (grammar) Expressing a condition or supposition.
    • a conditional word, mode, or tense

    Synonyms

    * conditioned * relative * limited * (in logic) hypothetical

    Antonyms

    * absolute * categorical * unconditional

    Derived terms

    * conditional entropy * conditional probability * conditional proof * conditional sentence