osculation

/ˌɑskyəˈleɪʃən/

Other forms: osculations

Osculation means kissing. If you tease your friends with a rhyme that describes them "sitting in a tree/k-i-s-s-i-n-g," you're joking about osculation.

Most wedding ceremonies traditionally end with osculation, and osculation is also part of a typical greeting in many parts of Europe. It's a fancy way of saying "kiss," and if you think it sounds vaguely mathematical, you're right. Osculation is also a term in geometry that describes the place where two curves or surfaces come into contact, or where their common tangent exists. It's almost as if the two curved lines are kissing.

Definitions of osculation

1. noun

   the act of caressing with the lips (or an instance thereof)
   synonyms: buss, kiss

   types:

   smack, smooch

   an enthusiastic kiss

   French kiss, deep kiss, soul kiss

   an openmouthed kiss in which your tongue is inserted into the other's mouth

   smacker

   a loud kiss

   type of:

   touch, touching

   the act of putting two things together with no space between them
2. noun

   (mathematics) a contact of two curves (or two surfaces) at which they have a common tangent
   type of:

   contact

   the state or condition of touching or of being in immediate proximity