The act or process of coming into contact; the state of being in contact with something.
From Latin 'contactus' (past participle of 'contingere', meaning 'to touch') combined with the suffix '-ion' indicating an action or state. The word emerged in English in the 17th century to describe the condition or process of physical touching or connection.
This word is the noun form of contact itself, but it's rarely used today—most English speakers say 'contact' for both the noun and verb, which shows how language simplifies over time by making one word do double duty.
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