accident

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ak.si.dɑ̃/^[1]

Forms

accident m (plural accidents)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin accidēns (“chance event; misfortune, (philosophy) accident”), the present participle of accidō (“to fall upon; to happen”) used as a noun, from ad- and cadō (“to fall”) (see choir).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The noun is used for chance or unhappy events from Seneca; as a term of philosophy, from Quintilian, it rendered Ancient Greek συμβεβηκός (sumbebēkós), and it was much used in scholastic Latin.^[2][3][5]

Compare Old Occitan accident, Italian accidente and Spanish accidente.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Benoît de Sainte-Maure (after 1160) uses it for a disastrous event: Maleit seit or cil aucidenz “cursed be that misfortune”.^[2] In Chrétien de Troyes's Cligès (1170) the changing colours of a face are accident d'amors, outward signs of love.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In philosophy it is what is added to a substance and can change without altering its nature, as in the Roman de la Rose (1237): les accidens et les sustances.^[2][3] Par accident “by chance” is in Brunetto Latini (1268).^[2][7]

The idea of an unhappy chance prevailed from the late 12th century: a medical sense in the 17th century, then in the 18th a sudden event causing damage, and in the 19th accident de voiture, de train, later d'avion, accident de la circulation is now the commonest use.^[3] Accident de terrain, a sudden change in the ground, appears in the early 19th century.^[3] In African and Indian Ocean French faire un accident is to be in a road accident.^[3]

Timeline

• after 1160 – “A disastrous event”, Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^[2]
• 1170 – “An outward sign”, Chrétien de Troyes.^[2]
• 1237 – A term of philosophy, Roman de la Rose.^[2]
• 1268 – Par accident, Brunetto Latini.^[2][7]
• c. 1650 – A medical sense.^[3]
• early 19th century – Accident de terrain.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An accident, a mishap causing damage or injury: accident de voiture, accident du travail.^[8][1]
2. A non-essential episode, par accident, by chance, accident de parcours, a hitch.^[8]
3. (philosophy) What is added to the essence and can change without altering its nature.^[8][2]
4. An irregularity: accident de terrain.^[3]
5. (music) An accidental, a sharp, flat or natural sign.^[9]
6. (dated) A chance event: un heureux accident.^[8][9]

Word family

• accidenté
• accidentel
• accidentellement

Related words

• choir
• Latin accidēns

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 73b
7. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse