English Explanatory Dictionary

accidental

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Pertaining to accident and not essence; thus, inessential; incidental; secondary.
  2. Nonessential to something's inherent nature (especially in Aristotelian thought).
  3. Adjusted by one or two semitones, in temporary departure from the key signature.
  4. Occurring sometimes, by chance; occasional.
  5. Happening by chance, or unexpectedly; taking place not according to the usual course of things; by accident, unintentional.
  6. Being a double point with two distinct tangent planes in 4-dimensional projective space.
noun
  1. A property which is not essential; a nonessential; anything happening accidentally.
  2. Those fortuitous effects produced by luminous rays falling on certain objects so that some parts stand forth in abnormal brightness and other parts are cast into a deep shadow.
  3. A sharp, flat, or natural, occurring not at the commencement of a piece of music as the signature, but before a particular note.
  4. Part of a text that has a mainly structural purpose, such as spelling, punctuation, or capitalization.

Pronunciation

/ˌæk.sɪˈdɛn.tl̩/ en-us-accidental.ogg LL-Q7979-Soundguys-accidental.wav

Word forms

accidental more accidental most accidental accidentall accidentals

Etymology

From Middle English accidental, from Anglo-Norman accidentel, Middle French accidentel, accidental, and their source, Late Latin accidēntālis; corresponding to accident + -al.

Synonyms

circumstantial incidental casual contingent fortuitous occasional serendipitous accidental accidentary by accident by the by causeless chanceable lippening random unforeseen unintended unintentional unplanned adventitious

Antonyms

inevitable impossible intentional

Related words

accident accidentally

Derived words

accidental abortion accidental chord accidental chords accidental color accidental colors accidental colour accidental death accidental gap accidentalism accidentalist accidentality accidental light accidental lights accidentally accidentalness accidental point accidental property nonaccidental pseudoaccidental unaccidental
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