an event that may or may not happen; the fact that events are not certain 可能发生的事；偶发（或不测、意外）事件 We must consider all possible contingencies. 我们必须考虑一切可能发生的事。 to make contingency plans (= plans for what to do if a particular event happens or does not happen) 拟订应变计划 a contingency fund (= to pay for something that might happen in the future) 意外开支准备金 The contingency of life is part of the human condition. 生活的偶然性是人类状况的一部分。
Oxford Collocations DictionaryContingency is used before these nouns:- fee
- fund
- plan
- …
a sum of money that you keep for additional payments 应急款： 您保留的一笔额外款项What's the contingency for legal fees? 律师费有什么偶然性？
Word Originmid 16th cent. (in the philosophical sense): from late Latin contingentia (in its medieval Latin sense ‘circumstance’), from contingere ‘befall’, from con- ‘together with’ + tangere ‘to touch’.