accidental
/ˌæk.sɪˈdɛn.tl̩/ adjective B1- Pertaining to accident and not essence; thus, inessential; incidental; secondary.
- Nonessential to something's inherent nature (especially in Aristotelian thought).
- Adjusted by one or two semitones, in temporary departure from the key signature.
- Occurring sometimes, by chance; occasional.
- 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.
- Being a double point with two distinct tangent planes in 4-dimensional projective space.
From the library
Bingley had not been of age two years when he was tempted, by an accidental recommendation, to look at Netherfield House.
At that ball, while I had the honour of dancing with you, I was first made acquainted, by Sir William Lucas’s accidental information, that Bingley’s attentions to your sister had given rise to a general expectation of their marriage.
He who, she had been persuaded, would avoid her as his greatest enemy, seemed, on this accidental meeting, most eager to preserve the acquaintance; and without any indelicate display of regard, or any peculiarity of manner, where their two selves only were concerned, was soliciting the good opinion of her friends, and bent on making her known to his sister.
Phelps never said so, and nobody else knew anything of the matter, then the thief’s presence in the room was purely accidental.
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