I am under the impression that both coterminous and conterminous have exactly the same meaning. There was a remark that Latin purists prefer conterminous. Why?
Is there any significant difference between the two? Do co- and con- have same effect on words?
I am looking for any additional information about these two words which would help me understand them better.
Yes, conterminous and coterminous both mean "to share a boundary".
According to the entries for co- and con-, below, co- is an Anglicising of con-, which is possibly why Latin purists prefer con-
In this instance co- and con- both mean together or with.
in Latin, the form of com- in compounds with stems beginning in vowels and h- and gn- (see com-). Taken in English from 17c. as a living prefix meaning “together, mutually, in common,” and used promiscuously with native words and Latin-derived words not beginning with vowels, sometimes even with words already having it (e.g. co-conspiritor).
prefix meaning "together, with," sometimes merely intensive; the form of com- used in Latin before consonants except -b-, -p-, -l-, -m-, or -r-. In native English formations, co- tends to be used where Latin would use con- (e.g. costar).
Dictionary.com disagrees with the currently accepted answer. It lists "coterminous" as one of the possible meanings of "conterminous", but also two other meanings.
Its definitions of "coterminous":
Its definitions of "conterminous":
Indeed, the National Geographic Style Guide says to use "conterminous" for the 48 contiguous states of the U.S.; that fits with definition 1 for "conterminous" and not with either of the definitions for "coterminous".
"Con-" has the meaning of :
used with certain words to add a notion similar to those conveyed by with, together, or joint congenial, congregation, console, consonant, construct, converge, etc.
It has the same meaning as "co-", which means:
together; mutually; jointly
"Conterminous" and "Coterminous" do mean the same.
