accidental
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accidental
- /ˌæk.sɪˈdɛn.tl̩/
Rhymes with -ɛntəl
Where it comes from
From Middle English accidental, from Anglo-Norman accidentel, Middle French accidentel, accidental, and their source, Late Latin accidēntālis; corresponding to accident + -al.
adjective more accidental · most accidental · accidentall
- Pertaining to accident and not essence; thus, inessential; incidental; secondary. It would be absurd to say that Marxism was predestined to become the ideology of the self-glorifying Russian bureaucracy. Nevertheless, it contained essential features, as opposed to accidental or secondary ones, that made it adaptable to this purpose.
- Nonessential to something's inherent nature (especially in Aristotelian thought).
- Adjusted by one or two semitones, in temporary departure from the key signature.
- Occurring sometimes, by chance; occasional.
-
Happening by chance, or unexpectedly; taking place not according to the usual course of things; by accident, unintentional.
The discovery was purely accidental.
Similar: adventitious
- Being a double point with two distinct tangent planes in 4-dimensional projective space.
Similar: circumstantial, incidental, casual, contingent, fortuitous, occasional, serendipitous, accidental, accidentary, by accident, by the by, causeless, chanceable, lippening, random, unforeseen, unintended, unintentional, unplanned · Opposite: inevitable, impossible, intentional
noun accidentals · accidentall
- A property which is not essential; a nonessential; anything happening accidentally. He conceived it just that accidentals ... should sink with the substance of the accusation.
- 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.
- A sharp, flat, or natural, occurring not at the commencement of a piece of music as the signature, but before a particular note.
- Part of a text that has a mainly structural purpose, such as spelling, punctuation, or capitalization.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: casual, chance, adventitious, extrinsic, inadvertent, unplanned, unintended, incidental, accident, sporadic, occasional, random, unintentional, one-time, fortuitous, contingent
adjective
Similar: circumstantial, incidental, casual, contingent, fortuitous, occasional, serendipitous, accidental, accidentary, by accident, by the by, causeless, chanceable, lippening, random, unforeseen, unintended, unintentional, unplanned · Opposite: inevitable, impossible, intentional
Translations
Every language
adj happening by chance
| Español | accidental, casual, imprevisto, fortuito |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 우연하다 uyeonhada, 돌발적 dolbaljeok |
| 日本語 | 偶然の gūzen no |
| 中文 | 偶然 ǒurán |
| हिन्दी | आकस्मिक ākasmik, संयोगी sãyogī, आगंतुक āgantuk, इत्तफ़ाक़िया ittafāqiyā |
| Português | acidental |
| Français | accidentel |
| Deutsch | versehentlich, zufällig |
| Italiano | accidentale |
| Ελληνικά | τυχαίος tychaíos |
| Română | accidental, întâmplător |
| Русский | случа́йный slučájnyj, неожи́данный neožídannyj |
| العربية | عَرْضِيّ ʕarḍiyy |
| עברית | מִקְרִי mikrí |
noun (in plural, painting)
| Português | acidente |
|---|
noun (music)
| 日本語 | 臨時記号 rinji kigō |
|---|---|
| Português | acidente |
| Français | altération |
| Ελληνικά | αλλοίωση alloíosi |
Talk about this word "accidental." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/accidental. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. accidental. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/accidental "accidental." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/accidental.Cite this
@misc{accidental_2026,
title = {accidental},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/accidental},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
