accidental

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌæk.sɪ.ˈdɛn.tl̩/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛntəl

Adjective

accidental (comparative more accidental, superlative most accidental)

1. Not essential; incidental, secondary. [from 14th c.]
2. (philosophy) Nonessential to something's inherent nature (especially in Aristotelian thought). [from 14th c.]
3. (music) Adjusted by one or two semitones, in temporary departure from the key signature. [from 16th c.]
4. Occurring sometimes, by chance; occasional. [from 16th c.]
5. Happening by chance, or unexpectedly; taking place not according to the usual course of things; by accident, unintentional. [from 16th c.]
6. (geometry) Being a double point with two distinct tangent planes in 4-dimensional projective space.

Synonyms

• (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

Derived terms

• accidental chords
• accidental colors
• accidental lights
• accidentally
• accidentalness
• accidental point

 

Translations

happening by chance

• Bashkir: осраҡлы (osraqlı)
• Bulgarian: случаен (bg) (slučaen)
• Catalan: accidental (ca) m or f
• Czech: nahodilý, náhodný (cs)
• Danish: tilfældig
• Dutch: toevallig (nl)
• Esperanto: neatendita, hazarda, akcidenta
• Finnish: sattumanvarainen (fi), sattumalta (fi)
• French: accidentel (fr)
• Georgian: შემთხვევითი (šemtxveviti)
• German: versehentlich (de), zufällig (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: τυχαῖος (tukhaîos)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hebrew: מקרי m (miqry), מקרית f (miqryt)
• Hungarian: véletlen (hu)
• Interlingue:
• Irish: aimseach, toirmeascach
• Italian: accidentale (it)
• Japanese: 偶然の (ja) (ぐうぜん, gūzen no)
• Norwegian: tilfeldig (no)
• Portuguese: acidental (pt)
• Romanian: accidental (ro) m or n, întâmplător (ro) m or n, accidentală f
• Russian: случа́йный (ru) (slučájnyj)
• Spanish: accidental (es), casual (es), imprevisto (es), fortuito (es)
• Swedish: tillfällig (sv)

Noun

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.

Translations

a property which is not essential

• Bulgarian: несъществено качество (nesǎštestveno kačestvo)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Zufall (de) m, Versehen (de) n

(in plural, painting)

• Portuguese: acidente (pt) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

(music)

• Catalan: accident (ca) m
• Finnish: etumerkki (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek: αλλοίωση (el) f (alloíosi)
• Hungarian: módosítójel (hu)
• Portuguese: acidente (pt) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} kebetulan (id)
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} accidental
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} accidentale (it)
• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} 偶然 (ja) (ぐうぜん, gūzen)

Anagrams

• calcinated

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Catalan

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

accidental m or f (masculine and feminine plural accidentals)

1. accidental

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Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French accidentel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ak.t͡ʃi.denˈtal/

Adjective

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

1. accidental

Declension

Declension of accidental

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	accidental		accidentală	accidentali	accidentale
	definite	accidentalul		accidentala	accidentalii	accidentalele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	accidental		accidentale	accidentali	accidentale
	definite	accidentalului		accidentalei	accidentalelor	accidentalilor

Related terms

• accident

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Scots

Adjective

accidental (comparative mair accidental, superlative maist accidental)

1. accidental

References

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

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Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /aɡθidenˈtal/ [aɣ̞.θi.ð̞ẽn̪ˈt̪al]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /aɡsidenˈtal/ [aɣ̞.si.ð̞ẽn̪ˈt̪al]

Adjective

accidental m or f (masculine and feminine plural accidentales)

1. nonessential
2. accidental

Derived terms

• accidentalidad
• accidentalmente

Related terms

• accidente

Noun

accidental m (plural accidentales)

1. (music) accidental

   Synonym: accidente

Further reading

• Template:R:DRAE 2001