accidental

English

Etymology

• First attested in 1386.
• accident +‎ -al
• Compare French accidentel, earlier accidental.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA: /ˌæk.sə.ˈdɛn.təl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛntəl

Adjective

accidental (comparative more accidental, superlative most accidental)

1. Happening by chance, or unexpectedly; taking place not according to the usual course of things; casual; fortuitous

   an accidental visit

2. Nonessential; not necessary belonging; incidental

   are accidental to a play

3. (music) Foreign to the key signature or a proper harmony.

Usage notes

• We speak of a thing as accidental when it falls out as by chance, and not in the regular course of things; as, an accidental meeting, an accidental advantage, etc.
• We call a thing incidental when it falls, as it were, into some regular course of things, but is secondary, and forms no essential part thereof; as, an incidental remark, an incidental evil, an incidental benefit.
• We speak of a thing as casual, when it falls out or happens, as it were, by mere chance, without being prearranged or premeditated; as, a casual remark or encounter; a casual observer. An idea of the unimportant is attached to what is casual.
• Fortuitous is applied to what occurs without any known cause, and in opposition to what has been foreseen; as, a fortuitous concourse of atoms.
• We call a thing contingent when it is such that, considered in itself, it may or may not happen, but is dependent for its existence on something else; as, the time of my coming will be contingent on intelligence yet to be received.

Synonyms

• adventitious, casual, contingent, fortuitous, incidental, occasional, serendipitous

Derived terms

• accidental chords
• accidental colors
• accidental point
• accidental lights

Translations

happening by chance

• Bulgarian: случаен (bg) (slučaen)
• Catalan: accidental (ca) m and f
• Czech: nahodilý (cs), náhodný (cs)
• Finnish: sattumanvarainen (fi), sattumalta (fi)
• French: accidentel (fr)
• German: versehentlich (de), zufällig (de)

• Hebrew: מקרי (miqry) m, מקרית (miqryt) f
• Italian: accidentale (it)
• Japanese: 偶然の (ja) (ぐうぜん, gūzen no)
• Romanian: accidental (ro) m and n, întâmplător (ro) m and n, accidentală (ro) f
• Russian: случайный (ru) (slučájnyj) 
• Spanish: accidental (es), casual (es), imprevisto (es), fortuito (es)

Noun

accidental (plural accidentals)

1. A property which is not essential; a nonessential; anything happening accidentally.
   • Fuller — 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 (bg) (nesǎštestveno kačestvo)

• German: Zufall (de) m, Versehen (de) n

(in plural, painting)

(music)

• Catalan: accident (ca) m

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

• Indonesian: kebetulan
• Interlingua: accidental
• Italian: accidentale
• Japanese: 偶然 (ぐうぜん, gūzen)
• Portuguese: acidental

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Catalan

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -aɫ

Adjective

accidental m, f (masculine and feminine plural accidentals)

1. accidental

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Romanian

Adjective

accidental ^{mn nom/acc forms}

1. accidental

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Spanish

Adjective

accidental m and f (plural accidentales)

1. accidental

Noun

accidental m (plural accidentales)

1. (music) accidental

Synonyms

• accidente