accidental

US /ˌæk.sɪˈdɛn.tl̩/ See IPA manual

Freq #9993

Meanings

1

adj
Happening by chance and not on purpose.

The discovery was purely accidental.
2

noun
In music, a symbol that raises or lowers a note outside the key signature.

The sharp before that note is an accidental.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · happening by chance and not... inadvertent adventitious

More accidentarycasual causelesschanceablecircumstantial contingent fortuitous incidentallippeningoccasional random serendipitous

Opposites

impossible inevitable intentional

Word family

Forms accidentals

Derived forms accidentalismaccidentalistaccidentality accidentallyaccidentalnessnonaccidentalpseudoaccidentalunaccidental

Related forms accident accidentally

Etymology

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

accidental Middle English accidentel Middle French accidēntālis la-lat

View etymology graph ->

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# accidental

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** /ˌæk.sɪˈdɛn.tl̩/
**Frequency rank:** 9993

## Meanings
1. Happening by chance and not on purpose.
2. In music, a symbol that raises or lowers a note outside the key signature.

## Examples
- The discovery was purely accidental.
- The sharp before that note is an accidental.

## Synonyms
- accidentary
- casual
- causeless
- chanceable
- circumstantial
- contingent
- fortuitous
- incidental
- lippening
- occasional
- random
- serendipitous

## Antonyms
- impossible
- inevitable
- intentional

## Derived Forms
- accidentalism
- accidentalist
- accidentality
- accidentally
- accidentalness
- nonaccidental
- pseudoaccidental
- unaccidental

## Related Forms
- accident
- accidentally

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: accidental
- Root: accidentel
- Root: accidēntālis

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

## AI Etymology
Accidental comes from Middle English accidental, from Anglo-Norman accidentel, Middle French accidentel, accidental, and their source, Late Latin accidēntālis; corresponding to accident plus -al. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern adjectival form is built from the named base and affix.

## Topics
- Space, Position & Direction

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accidental

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