Definition of "accidental" in English

adjective

1. Pertaining to accident and not essence; thus, inessential; incidental; secondary.

2. (music) Adjusted by one or two semitones, in temporary departure from the key signature.

3. Occurring sometimes, by chance; occasional.

4. Happening by chance, or unexpectedly; taking place not according to the usual course of things; by accident, unintentional.

   • The discovery was purely accidental.
   • He was killed by an accidental gunshot.
   • accidental damage
   • accidental death
   • entirely accidental

5. (geometry) Being a double point with two distinct tangent planes in 4-dimensional projective space.

noun

1. A property which is not essential; a nonessential; anything happening accidentally.

2. (painting, plural only) Those fortuitous effects produced by luminous rays falling on certain objects so that some parts stand forth in abnormal brightness and other parts are cast into a deep shadow.

3. (music) A sharp, flat, or natural, occurring not at the commencement of a piece of music as the signature, but before a particular note.

4. Part of a text that has a mainly structural purpose, such as spelling, punctuation, or capitalization.