What does concomitancy mean?
Concomitancy is a formal noun denoting the fact or condition of accompanying something else — the state in which two things occur together, whether or not one causes the other. It derives from the Latin verb 'concomitari', meaning to accompany, built on 'comes', meaning companion. In practice, the word appears most often in scholarly registers: philosophers may speak of the concomitancy of mental and physical states, while scientists might note the concomitancy of two symptoms or phenomena without asserting a causal link between them. That nuance matters — unlike words such as 'result' or 'effect', concomitancy implies mere co-occurrence rather than causation. A rarer variant, 'concomitance', carries the same meaning and is somewhat more common. For general writing, simpler alternatives like 'accompaniment' or 'coexistence' usually serve better, but concomitancy offers precision when the emphasis falls squarely on simultaneous occurrence.
nounThe fact or condition of accompanying or occurring together with something else; the state of being concomitant.
- The fact or condition of accompanying or co-occurring with something else.
"The concomitancy of rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns has reshaped the region's agriculture."
"Philosophers have long debated whether the mind and body are causally linked or merely stand in concomitancy with one another."
"In medical reports, the concomitancy of certain symptoms often points toward a single underlying cause."
Rarely used in the plural; the word almost always appears in the singular, since it names an abstract condition.
"The report catalogued several concomitancies that complicated the diagnosis."
It shares its Latin root with the word 'count' — as in a nobleman — because both trace back to 'comes', the Latin word for a companion who accompanies a great man.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of concomitancy
Concomitancy comes from the Late Latin verb 'concomitari', meaning 'to accompany', formed from the prefix 'con-' ('together with') plus 'comes' ('companion'), the same root that gives English 'count' for a nobleman and underlies 'accompany'. The word entered English in the early modern period alongside its sibling forms 'concomitance' and 'concomitant', all expressing the idea of things going together. Its closest living relatives are 'concomitant' (an adjective and noun for something that accompanies) and 'accompany' itself.
Related word forms
How concomitancy is actually used
A formal, learned word found chiefly in academic, philosophical, and scientific writing. In everyday prose, 'accompaniment' or simply 'going along with' is more natural. The variant form 'concomitance' is more frequently encountered.
Easily confused with concomitancy
Both nouns mean the same thing — the state of accompanying something — but 'concomitance' is the more common form, while 'concomitancy' is a rarer variant.