adjacent, adjoining

An adjacent property is normally one that is nearby without necessarily touching the one being considered in relation to it. Similarly, adjacent angles in a triangle are separated by the length of one side of the triangle, an adjacent room can be across a corridor, and adjacent tables are next to each other, but with a space between. Adjoining invariably denotes contact, and is therefore preferable when this meaning is unambiguously required; as a participle it can also govern a following noun rather like a preposition (e.g.

She and Susan had rooms adjoining, so she had none of the creepy feelings one often gets in a strange house—M. Gervaise, 1983

Within a few minutes the runaway animal which had broken loose from a field adjoining the railway line was taken back home—Stamford Mercury, 2007).

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