accidental

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

• IPA^(key): /ˌæk.sɪ.ˈdɛn.tl̩/

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• Rhymes: -ɛntəl

accidental (comparative more accidental, superlative most accidental)

1. Pertaining to accident and not essence; thus, inessential; incidental; secondary. [from 14th c.]

   Hyponym: instantial

   1. (philosophy) Nonessential to something's inherent nature (especially in Aristotelian thought). [from 14th c.]
2. (music) Adjusted by one or two semitones, in temporary departure from the key signature. [from 16th c.]
3. Occurring sometimes, by chance; occasional. [from 16th c.]
4. Happening by chance, or unexpectedly; taking place not according to the usual course of things; by accident, unintentional. [from 16th c.]
   • 1603, John Florio, Essays, translation of original by Michel de Montaigne, III.1:

     The way to trueth is but one and simple, that of particular profit and benefit of affaires a man hath in charge, double, uneven and accidentall [translating fortuite].

5. (geometry) Being a double point with two distinct tangent planes in 4-dimensional projective space.

• (not essential): circumstantial, incidental; See also Thesaurus:circumstantial
• (nonessential to something's inherent nature): See also Thesaurus:extrinsic
• (happening by chance): adventitious, casual, contingent, fortuitous, incidental, occasional, serendipitous; See also Thesaurus:accidental

accidental (plural accidentals)

1. A property which is not essential; a nonessential; anything happening accidentally.
   • 1662, Fuller, Worthies of England:

     He conceived it just that accidentals ... should sink with the substance of the accusation.

2. (painting, plural only) 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. (music) 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.

   Coordinate term: substantive

• calcinated

From Late Latin accidēntālis.

• Rhymes: -al

accidental (masculine and feminine plural accidentals)

1. accidental

• accidentalment

• accident

• “accidental” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “accidental”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
• “accidental” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “accidental” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Borrowed from French accidentel.

• IPA^(key): /ak.t͡ʃi.denˈtal/

accidental m or n (feminine singular accidentală, masculine plural accidentali, feminine and neuter plural accidentale)

1. accidental

• accident

accidental (comparative mair accidental, superlative maist accidental)

1. accidental

• Eagle, Andy, editor (2016) The Online Scots Dictionary, Scots Online.

From Late Latin accidēntālis.

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /aɡθidenˈtal/ [aɣ̞.θi.ð̞ẽn̪ˈt̪al]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /aɡsidenˈtal/ [aɣ̞.si.ð̞ẽn̪ˈt̪al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: ac‧ci‧den‧tal

accidental (plural accidentales)

1. accidental
2. nonessential

• accidentalidad
• accidentalmente

• accidente

accidental m (plural accidentales)

1. (music) accidental

   Synonym: accidente

• “accidental”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014