accidently
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English accidentli (“by chance; temporarily; artificially”), equivalent to accident + -ly.
Adverb
accidently (comparative more accidently, superlative most accidently)
- (now nonstandard) Accidentally; by chance, unintentionally. [from 15th c.]
- 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Penguin 2004, p. 47:
- [T]he exceptions remind me of an ingenious conjecture respecting Newton: that he was probably a being of a superior order, accidently caged in a human body.
- 1899, George Egerton, translating Knut Hamsun, Hunger, Part I, page 15:
- As I arrived at the foot of the hill I overtook two ladies, whom I passed. As I did so, I brushed one of them accidently on the arm.
- 1980, Phillip James Edwin Peebles, The Large-Scale Structure of the Universe[1] (Astrophysics), Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 151:
- … which arises from four galaxies at four quite different distances that accidently appear close together in the sky. The second line represents two galaxies close together in space and the other two accidently close in projection, the third line close triplets plus a fourth accidently close in projection, the fourth line two close pairs accidently seen close together in projection.
- 2011, Robert W. Shumaker, Kristina R. Walkup, Benjamin B. Beck, Gordon M. Burghardt, Animal Tool Behavior[2], 2, revised edition, JHU Press, →ISBN, page 92:
- … relayed similar cases but suspected that the rocks were accidently dislodged as the animals fled. ... Hall (1963) considered the same data and concluded that while such behavior might originate accidently during flight or display, ...
- 2012, Patrick R. Delaney PhD, CPA, O. Ray Whittington, Wiley CPA Exam Review 2012, Regulations[3], page 334:
- Juan accidently spills some coffee on a client during a business meeting. Juan's tort is clearly in the scope of employment.
- 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Penguin 2004, p. 47:
Usage notes
In modern usage, the spelling accidently is usually considered a misspelling of accidentally.
Translations
unexpectedly, unintentionally — see accidentally
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Adverb
accidently
- by chance, by accident
- Thinges that happen accidentlych. — Cato, 1475
- temporarily
- He that hath goode vertues is substancially a noble man, and he that hath hem accydently maketh himself noble and is nat. — The Dicts and Sayings of the Philosophers, 1460
- not naturally, artificially
- It is made naturaly of defecte of materie or accidently of yuel sewing & consoldyng of þe palpebrez. — Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie, 1425
References
- Middle English Dictionary, accidentli