accidental

Etymology

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman accidentel, also accidental,^[2][3] and its source Late Latin accidentālis (“not forming part of the essence”),^[2][4][5] formed on Latin accidēns (“happening; an accident”), with the adjective suffix -ālis.^[3][6][5] Etymonline gives the French word or Medieval Latin as alternative sources, and the OED treats the English word as coming partly from each.^[7][2] In French the adjective meant both "happening by chance" and "not part of the substance" in the 13th century; the Latin word is found from the 6th century, in Boethius.^[2] Anglo-Norman used it from the late 13th century, also of a line in palmistry that carried no meaning.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not essential to a thing, incidental or secondary: 1387–8, in a petition of the London Mercers.^[2] Etymonline also dates the first sense, "non-essential", to the late 14th century.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The word began in the language of philosophy, where an accidental property is one a thing can lose without ceasing to be what it is (Trevisa, a1398).^[2] From there it moved to what merely happens: something occurring now and then by chance (1502), and then something happening unintentionally or unexpectedly (1555), the sense that is now the main one.^[2][7] Etymonline dates "unintentional" to the 1570s and a sense "outside the normal course of nature" to the early 15th century.^[7] Johnson (1755) still gave "nonessential" as the first meaning.^[9] Specialised uses followed in music (a note raised or lowered outside the key, 1597), painting (secondary light, 1612), law (accidental death, 1640) and ornithology (a bird found outside its normal range, 1821).^[2] In Devon dialect around 1895, a child born accidental was one born out of wedlock.^[10]

Timeline

• 1387–8 – not essential; incidental.^[2][11]
• a1398 – in philosophy, relating to non-essential properties; also as a noun, a non-essential feature.^[2]
• 1502 – occurring from time to time by chance.^[2]
• 1555 – happening by chance or unintentionally;^[2] Etymonline dates this sense to the 1570s.^[7]
• 1597 – in music, of a note altered outside the key signature.^[2]
• 1612 – in painting, of secondary or artificial light.^[2]
• 1640 – of a death, caused by an unforeseen incident.^[2]
• 1796 – as a noun, a sharp, flat or natural sign before a note;^[2] Etymonline dates the noun's musical sense to 1868.^[7]
• 1821 – of a bird or other animal, found rarely in a region, outside its normal range.^[2]
• 1942 – in textual criticism, a feature of spelling or printing that does not affect the author's meaning.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Happening by chance, without being planned or intended: an accidental fire.
2. Not essential; incidental or secondary.
3. (music) Of a note: raised or lowered by a sign that is not in the key signature.
4. (logic) Of a property: not essential to the nature of a thing; contingent.
5. (ornithology) Of a bird: occurring only rarely in an area, outside its usual range.

Noun

1. A non-essential or incidental feature or circumstance.
2. (music) A sharp, flat or natural sign that is not part of the key signature, or a note marked with one.
3. (ornithology) A bird found far outside its normal range; a vagrant.

Word family

• accidentally
• accidentalness
• nonaccidental
• unaccidental

Related words

• accident
• incident
• occasion
• cadence

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
11. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)