accidental

Forms

accidental m or n (feminine singular accidentală, masculine plural accidentali, feminine/neuter plural accidentale)^[1] Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 spells it Accidentalŭ.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French accidentel, as DEX, MDA2, MDN and Wiktionary give it, and DA calls it a neologism after French.^{[3][4][5][6][1]} DELR names borrowed from Italian accidentale beside the French word, and Tiktin gives the Italian alone;^[7][8][9] DN compares English accidental as well.^[7][8][9] Scriban sees it as derived from accident on the French model.^[10] The French word is formed from accident with the suffix -el.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin and DELR date the first record to about 1832, in Cornelli, with the sense “chance, inessential”.^[8][7] MDA2 cites Nicolae Bălcescu, in a passage DA quotes: the ignorant believe a comet to be accidental.^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its two senses, happening by chance and being secondary or inessential.^[3][4] It is also an adverb meaning “by chance”.^[10][4] In music, semn accidental is an accidental sign and linii accidentale are ledger lines above or below the staff.^[6][11]

Timeline

• c. 1832 – the first record, in Cornelli.^[8][7]
• 1870 – Accidentalŭ in Costinescu's dictionary.^[2]
• 1886 – glossed with German zufällig by Barcianu.^[12]
• 1931 – the musical phrases semn accidental and linii accidentale in CADE.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Happening by chance; incidental, unforeseen.^[3][4]
2. Secondary, inessential.^[3][4]
3. (music) In semn accidental: an accidental; in linii accidentale: ledger lines.^[4][6]

Adverb

1. By chance, accidentally.^[4][10]

Related words

• accident
• accidenta

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 9
3. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 6
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 7
5. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. accidental
6. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. accidental
7. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. accident
8. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. accidental
9. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. accidental
10. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 63
11. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. accidental
12. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 1