accident

Etymology

* First attested in the late 14th century. From Middle English, from Old French accident, from Latin accidēns, present active participle of accidō (“happen”); from ad (“to”) + cadō (“fall”). See cadence, case. In the sense "unintended pregnancy", first attested in 1932.

noun

1. An unexpected event with negative consequences occurring without the intention of the one suffering the consequences, and (in the strict sense) not directly caused by humans.
   to die by an accident such as an act of God
   Coordinate term: act of God
   1. (law) casus; such unforeseen, extraordinary, extraneous interference as is out of the range of ordinary calculation.
2. (transport) A collision or crash of a vehicle, aircraft, or other form of transportation that causes damage to the transportation involved; and sometimes injury or death to the transportation's occupants or bystanders in close proximity. (but see Usage notes)
   There was a huge accident on I5 involving 15 automobiles.
   My insurance went up after the second accident in three months.
   Surprisingly, this analysis revealed that acute exposure to solvent vapors at concentrations below those associated with long-term effects appears to increase the risk of a fatal automobile accident. Furthermore, this increase in risk is comparable to the risk of death from leukemia after long-term exposure to benzene, another solvent, which has the well-known property of causing this type of cancer. 2013 July-August, Philip J. Bushnell, “Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance”, in American Scientist
3. Any chance event.
   He also objects to the idea of women arising by an accident of nature, preferring the notion that they came about as a 'result of some strong mental impression', and so 'the sex of the progeny would have been settled by the decision of the progenitor'. 2008, Celia Deane-Drummond, The Ethics of Nature, page 206
4. (uncountable) Chance; random chance.
   c.1861-1863, Richard Chevenix Trench, in 1888, Letters and memorials, Volume 1, Thou cam'st not to thy place by accident, / It is the very place God meant for thee; […]
   And so with his writing, which he proudly said was a perfect counterpart of his life. Accident played a major part in both. 1991 Autumn, Robert M. Adams, “Montaigne”, in American Scholar, volume 60, number 4, page 589
5. Any property, fact, or relation that is the result of chance or is nonessential or nonsubstantive.
   See also: accident (philosophy)
   Beauty is an accident.
   Lexical gaps are called accidental because their existence is by accident; it is not essential.
   This accident, as I call it, of Athens being situated some miles from the sea, which is rather the consequence of its being a very ancient site,[…] 1883, J. P. Mahaffy, Social life in Greece from Homer to Menander
   If they went through their growth-crisis in other faiths and other countries, although the essence of the change would be the same[…], its accidents would be different. 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Folio Society, published 2008, page 171
   14thC, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale in The Canterbury Tales, These cookes how they stamp, and strain, and grind, / And turne substance into accident, / To fulfill all thy likerous talent!
   But as to Man, all the Fruits of the Earth, all sorts of Herbs, Plants and Roots, the Fishes of the Sea, and the Birds of the Air do not suffice him, but he must disguise, vary, and sophisticate, change the substance into accident, that by such irritations as these, Nature might be provoked, and as it were necessitated. 1677, chapter 3, in Heraclitus Christianus: or, the Man of Sorrow, page 14
   Nonetheless, those who have no evidence of the impossibility of the transformation of accident into substance believe that it is death itself which will be actually transformed into a ram on the Day of Resurrection and then be slaughtered. 1989, Iysa A. Bello, The medieval Islamic controversy between philosophy and orthodoxy, page 55
   It would also follow that God ought to be able to transmute genera, converting substance into accident, knowledge into ability, black into white, and sound into smell, just as he can turn the inanimate into animate[…] 2005, Muhammad Ali Khalidi, Medieval Islamic philosophical writings, page 175
   nor can God effect the transmutation of substances (from accident into substance, or substance into accident, or substance without accident). 2010, T. M. Rudavsky, Maimonides, page 142
   1. (grammar) A property attached to a word, but not essential to it, such as gender, number, or case.
      An adjective, so called because adjectitious, or added to a substantive, denotes some quality or accident of the substantive to which it is joined […] a 1799, John Parkhurst, A Hebrew and English lexicon without points, page 25
6. (euphemistic) An instance of incontinence.
   We weren’t there long when Karin asked about our dog. When we told her Chris was in the car, she insisted we bring him up to the apartment. I rejected her offer and said he might have an accident on the carpet and I didn’t want to worry about it. 2009, Marcia Stedron, My Roller Coaster Life as an Army Wife, Xlibris Corporation, page 56
   1. Urine or feces excreted due to incontinence.
7. (euphemistic) An unintended pregnancy.
   1. (derogatory or humorous) A person born from an unintended pregnancy.
      Taylor was our sweet little accident, and we're so glad!
      Well I may be annoying but at least I'm not an accident like you are
8. (geology) An irregular surface feature with no apparent cause.
9. (geology) A sudden discontinuity of ground such as fault of great thickness, bed or lentil of unstable ground.
10. (heraldry) A point or mark which may be retained or omitted in a coat of arms.

adj

1. (transport) Designating any form of transportation involved in an accident.
   The NTSB report revealed that the accident airplane was a Cessna 172.