accidental

UK/ˌæk.sɪˈdɛn.tl̩/US/ˌæk.sɪˈdɛn.tl̩/

adjectiveB1Common in everyday speech and writing · #4,780 of 15,258neutral

Accidental means happening by chance and not on purpose. An accidental death, accidental damage, accidentally deleted.

In law the difference between accidental and deliberate decides everything, and in insurance accidental damage is a separate cover that most basic policies leave out. In music an accidental is a sharp or flat not in the key signature.

Definitions of accidental

1adjectiveaccidentalHappening by chance and not on purpose.B1
“The police said the fire was accidental, caused by a faulty heater.”

accidental is a quality of chance.

Where it comes from

Latin accidentalis comes from accidere, to happen — ad plus cadere, to fall. An accident is what falls out.

Latin
accidēntālis
Middle French
accidentel
Anglo-Norman
accidentel
Middle English
accidental
English, today
accidental

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

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

accidental in the wild

Accidentals alter the pitch of individual scale tones in a given key signature; the sharps or flats in the key signature itself are not called accidentals.
Accidental (music)
An accidental applies to the note that immediately follows it and to subsequent instances of that note in the same measure, unless it is canceled by another accidental.
Accidental (music)
The benefits paid out by an AD&D policy can help cover medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, and other expenses associated with an accidental injury.
Accidental death and dismemberment insurance
Aristotle made a distinction between the essential and accidental properties of a thing.
Accident (philosophy)
In modern philosophy, an accident (or accidental property) is the union of two concepts: property and contingency.
Accident (philosophy)

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

From Project Gutenberg, public domain. These sentences are from real books, shown to illustrate the word at work.

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