coincident, a. (and n.)
(kəʊˈɪnsɪdənt)
[a. F. coïncident, ad. med.L. *coincident-em, pres. pple. of coincidĕre to coincide.]
A. adj.
1. Occupying the same place or portion of space.
| 1656 tr. Hobbes' Elem. Philos. (1839) 102 Coincident and coextended with it. 1660 Barrow Euclid i. viii, So the sides of the angles A and D are coincident. 1704 Newton Opticks (J.), These circles..as I went from them, they came nearer and nearer together, and at length became coincident. 1822 J. Imison Sci. & Art (ed. Webster) I. 269 If the object be in the centre of the mirror's concavity, the image and object will be coincident, and equal in bulk. 1831 Brewster Optics xix. 164 Having its plane of polarisation coincident with or parallel to the plane of reflexion. |
2. Occurring at the same time and occupying the same space of time; exactly contemporaneous.
| 1598 Florio, Coincidente, coincident, incident with or vnto. 1654 L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 3 In truth they were so co-incident, as the loyal hearted English could not distinguish between the Spanish match and Charles his ruine. 1728 Newton Chronol. Amended vi. 355 The 13th year of his Reign was coincident in winter with the 20th of the Peloponnesian war. 1849 Cobden Speeches 78 The most terrible distress, always coincident with dear food in our manufacturing..districts. 1876 J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. I. i. iii. 139 The resistance to the Pope's authority..is pretty nearly coincident with the rise of the Ottomans. |
3. Having the same nature, character, or value; in exact agreement, wholly consonant with.
| 1563–87 Foxe A. & M. (1596) 14/1 So the name of bishop is coincident with the office of apostle. a 1638 Mede Wks. iv. lxxxvii. 872 These [principles], though they be sometimes coincident, are not the same. 1665 Glanvill Sceps. Sci. Introd. 8 Our ends are so far from being repugnant that they are coincident. 1729 Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 37 Duty and interest are perfectly coincident. 1798 T. Twining Recr. & Studies (1882) 228 The most congenial, the most coincident friend I have. 1875 Jevons Money (1878) 194 Standard coins, whose nominal value is coincident with their metallic value. |
† 4. Incident or concomitant to. Obs.
| 1567 N. Sander Rocke of Church 216 An other thing coincident to some degree of men. 1648 Herrick Hesper., Empires, Empires of Kings are now, and ever were, As Sallust saith, co-incident to feare. |
† B. n. A thing which coincides with something else, a concomitant. Obs.
| 1626 Walton in Reliq. Wotton. (1672) 322 Coincidents are not always Causes. 1658 Evelyn Mem. (1857) III. 106 When virtue and blood are coincidents. 1750 Harris Hermes Wks. (1841) 176 All motion and rest imply time and place, as a kind of necessary coincidents. |