accidental

I. adjective Date: 14th century 1. arising from extrinsic causes ; incidental, nonessential 2. a. occurring unexpectedly or by chance b. happening without intent or through carelessness and often with unfortunate results • accidentally also accidently adverb • accidentalness noun Synonyms: accidental, fortuitous, casual, contingent mean not amenable to planning or prediction. accidental stresses chance <

any resemblance to actual persons is entirely accidental

>. fortuitous so strongly suggests chance that it often connotes entire absence of cause <

a series of fortuitous events

>. casual stresses lack of real or apparent premeditation or intent <

a casual encounter with a stranger

>. contingent suggests possibility of happening but stresses uncertainty and dependence on other future events for existence or occurrence <

the contingent effects of the proposed law

>. II. noun Date: 1651 1. a nonessential property 2. a. a note foreign to a key indicated by a signature b. a prefixed sign indicating an accidental