Plural of contingent; groups of people or things that depend on certain conditions, or military units sent from a country.
From Latin contingent-, present participle of contingere. In modern usage, it refers both to conditional things and to military groups whose presence is contingent on need or agreement.
When countries send military contingents to international peacekeeping missions, they're literally sending soldiers whose mission is contingent—it could end if peace is reached, if politicians change their minds, or if circumstances shift.
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