history-contingent
|his-to-ry-con-tin-gent|
🇺🇸
/ˈhɪs.tə.ri kənˈtɪn.dʒənt/
🇬🇧
/ˈhɪs.t(ə)r.i kənˈtɪn.dʒ(ə)nt/
depends on past events
Etymology
'history-contingent' is a modern English compound formed by joining 'history' and 'contingent' to mean that something is contingent upon history (i.e., dependent on past events).
'history' comes from Latin 'historia' and Greek 'historia' meaning 'inquiry, narrative' and passed into Middle English as 'history'; 'contingent' comes from Latin 'contingens/contingere' (con- 'together' + tangere 'to touch' / figuratively 'to happen'), via Old French/Medieval Latin into English. The compound itself arose in modern academic usage (20th century) to describe phenomena whose outcomes depend on particular historical sequences.
Individually, 'history' originally meant 'narrative, inquiry' and 'contingent' meant 'happening by chance' or 'dependent on conditions'; combined as 'history-contingent', the phrase specifically emphasizes dependence on the sequence of past events (path-dependence), a usage that developed in modern scholarly contexts.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
dependent on particular past events or sequences of events; not inevitable but shaped by historical contingencies (i.e., path-dependent).
Whether a trait becomes widespread can be history-contingent, shaped by earlier random events as much as by selection.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/11/19 14:34