What does ACCIDENTAL mean?

Definitions for ACCIDENTAL
ˌæk sɪˈdɛn tlac·ci·den·tal

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word ACCIDENTAL.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. accidentaladjective

    a musical notation that makes a note sharp or flat or natural although that is not part of the key signature

  2. accidental, inadvertentadjective

    happening by chance or unexpectedly or unintentionally

    "with an inadvertent gesture she swept the vase off the table"; "accidental poisoning"; "an accidental shooting"

Wiktionary

  1. accidentalnoun

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

  2. accidentalnoun

    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. accidentalnoun

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

  4. accidentaladjective

    Happening by chance, or unexpectedly; taking place not according to the usual course of things; casual; fortuitous

    an accidental visit

  5. accidentaladjective

    Nonessential; not necessary belonging; incidental

    are accidental to a play

  6. accidentaladjective

    Foreign to the key signature or a proper harmony.

  7. Etymology: * First attested in 1386.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Accidentaladjective

    Etymology: from accident.

    A distinction is to be made between what pleases naturally in itself, and what pleases upon the account of machines, actors, dances, and circumstances, which are merely accidental to the tragedy. Thomas Rymer, Tragedies of the last Age.

    This is accidental to a state of religion, and therefore ought to be reckoned among the ordinary difficulties of it. John Tillotson.

    Thy sin’s not accidental, but a trade. William Shakespeare, Meas. for Meas.

    So shall you hear
    Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters;
    Of deaths put on by cunning, and forc’d cause. William Shakespeare, Ham.

    Look upon things of the most accidental and mutable nature; accidental in their production, and mutable in their continuance; yet God’s prescience of them is as certain in him, as the memory of them is, or can be, in us. Robert South, Sermons.

    Ay, such a minister as wind to fire,
    That adds an accidental fierceness to
    Its natural fury. John Denham, Sophy.

  2. Accidentalnoun

    A property nonessential.

    Etymology: accidental, Fr.

    Conceive, as much as you can, of the essentials of any subject, before you consider its accidentals. Isaac Watts, Logick.

ChatGPT

  1. accidental

    Accidental refers to an event or situation that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally, or anything that occurs without any purposeful planning or cause. Furthermore, in the context of music, an accidental is a symbol denoting changes to a note's pitch.

  2. accidental

    Accidental is an adjective that refers to something occurring unexpectedly, unintentionally, or by chance, without being planned or foreseen. It can also refer to an incidental or nonessential thing or circumstance. In music, an accidental is a sign that changes or modifies the pitch of a note.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Accidentaladjective

    happening by chance, or unexpectedly; taking place not according to the usual course of things; casual; fortuitous; as, an accidental visit

  2. Accidentaladjective

    nonessential; not necessary belonging; incidental; as, are accidental to a play

  3. Accidentalnoun

    a property which is not essential; a nonessential; anything happening accidentally

  4. Accidentalnoun

    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

  5. Accidentalnoun

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

Wikidata

  1. Accidental

    In music, an accidental is a note whose pitch is not a member of a scale or mode indicated by the most recently applied key signature. In musical notation, the sharp, flat, and natural symbols are used to mark such notes, and those symbols may themselves be called accidentals. In the measure in which it appears, an accidental sign raises or lowers the following notes from their normal pitch, ignoring sharps or flats in the key signature. A note is usually raised or lowered by a semitone, although microtonal music may use "fractional" accidental signs. One occasionally sees double sharps or flats, which raise or lower the indicated note by a whole tone. Accidentals apply within the measure and octave in which they appear, unless canceled by another accidental sign, or tied into a following measure. The modern accidental signs derive from the round and square small letter b used in Gregorian chant manuscripts to signify the two pitches of B, the only note that could be altered. The round b became the flat sign, while the square b diverged into the sharp and natural signs. Sometimes the black keys on a musical keyboard are called accidentals or sharps, and the white keys are called naturals.

How to pronounce ACCIDENTAL?

How to say ACCIDENTAL in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of ACCIDENTAL in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of ACCIDENTAL in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of ACCIDENTAL in a Sentence

  1. Sylvia Palmer:

    Peter Liang says that it was an accidental death. Peter Liang, my son was no accident, you murdered my son. I need justice for my son. I need a conviction of Peter Liang.

  2. Gerald Christensen:

    We've always said the case actually is an involuntary manslaughter (case) -- that it was an accidental overdose and a subsequent panic and a failure to call 911, i think she has tremendous amount of relief that this ordeal is closing.

  3. Sheila Vakharia:

    This result highlights what many would call the substitution effect : when people substitute one drug for another, according to the substitution effect, people who have become dependent on prescribed opioids and lose convenient access to them may substitute with heroin. However, illicit heroin is often of unknown quality and purity... so it can increase risk of accidental overdose and poisoning.

  4. Sir Peter Westmacott:

    It is not accidental that on the front of his baseball cap it says, 'Make America great again', for whatever reason, there are people who feel America is not at the moment the world's dominant power who snaps its fingers and the rest of the world falls into place.

  5. Greg Nelson:

    People who know me — co-workers, the media and colleagues — know who I am and what I'm about, i understand the very serious nature of these claims and do not take them lightly. The accusations are, however, false. One was accidental and the other simply did not happen. Everything that was alleged was thoroughly investigated years ago, and I cooperated fully.

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Translations for ACCIDENTAL

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"ACCIDENTAL." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/ACCIDENTAL>.

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