accident
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
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[edit] English
Part or all of this page has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
[edit] Etymology
French accident, from Latin accīdēns, -dentis, present participle of accīdō (“‘to happen’”); ad + cadere (“‘to fall’”). See cadence, case.
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈæk.sə.dənt/, SAMPA: /"{k.s@.d@nt/
- Audio (US)help, file
[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
accident (plural accidents)
- Literally, a befalling; an event that takes place without one's foresight or expectation; an undesigned, sudden, and unexpected event; often, an undesigned and unforeseen occurrence of an afflictive or unfortunate character
- to die by an accident
- Shakespeare, Othello, I-iii:
- Of moving accidents by flood and field.
- Trench:
- Thou cam'st not to thy place by accident: It is the very place God meant for thee.
- (grammar) A property attached to a word, but not essential to it, as gender, number, case.
- (military) An unplanned event that results in injury (including death) or occupational illness to person(s) and/or damage to property, exclusive of injury and/or damage caused by action of an enemy or hostile force.
- (heraldry) A point or mark which may be retained or omitted in a coat of arms
- (logic) A quality or attribute in distinction from the substance, as sweetness, softness.
- 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Folio Society 2008, p. 171:
- If they went through their growth-crisis in other faiths and other countries, although the essence of the change would be the same [...], its accidents would be different.
- 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Folio Society 2008, p. 171:
- Any accidental property, fact, or relation; an accidental or nonessential
- Beauty is an accident.
- (obsolete) Unusual appearance or effect - Geoffrey Chaucer
- (law) casus; such unforeseen, extraordinary, extraneous interference as is out of the range of ordinary calculation.
- (transport) An unintended collision or event that causes damage or death.
- There was a huge accident on I5 involving 15 automobiles.
- My insurance is expenive now, mostly because of those two accidents.
[edit] Synonyms
- (event that takes place without foresight or expectation): befalling, chance, contingency, casualty, mishap
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Translations
befalling, mishap, casualty
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military: unplanned event resulting in injury
heraldry: which may be retained or omitted
accidental property
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transport: unintended collision
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
[edit] External links
- accident in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- accident in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
- accident at OneLook® Dictionary Search
[edit] Catalan
[edit] Etymology
From Latin accīdent-, stem of accīdēns, present participle of accīdō (“‘to happen’”).
[edit] Pronunciation
- (Balearic) IPA: [əksiðént], [əʦiðént]
- (Eastern Catalan) IPA: [əksiðén]
- (Western Catalan) IPA: [aksíðént]
[edit] Noun
accident m. (plural accidents)
- accident (a chance occurrence)
- (grammar) accident
- (music) accidental
- (logic) accident
- (transport) accident
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] French
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
accident m. (plural accidents)