accidental
/ˌæksəˈdentəl/ak-suh-DEN-tuhl
/ˌæksəˈdɛntəl/ak-suh-DEN-tuhl
Meaningrelating to a falling upon
Common meaning: happening by chance
- acto, towards
- cidto fallLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 258 (approximate) · scan
- entadjective ending: being or doing
- aladjective ending: relating to
‘to, towards’ + ‘to fall’ → accidental
Journey through time
- Latincadō, cecidī, cāsum‘to fall’
- Englishaccident‘an unplanned event, often causing harm’
- Englishformed in English from accidentaccidental‘happening by chance’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from accident + -al.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), ACCIDENT, p.6 · scan
Roots
- cadō, cecidī, cāsum Latin “to fall”
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app