accident
Pluralaccidents
Pluralaccidents
- 1An unexpected and unintended event that causes damage or injury, especially a crash involving a vehicle, aircraft, or other transport.
The fire was ruled an accident caused by faulty wiring.
Nobody was to blame; the whole thing was a tragic accident.
UsageYou have an accident or are hurt in an accident. By accident means by chance, not in a crash.
Note
Shakespeare's Othello speaks of "moving accidents by flood and field," stirring events at sea and in battle, a wider use than today's mishap.
- 2Any event that comes about purely by chance rather than by design.
Their first meeting was a fortunate accident that changed both their lives.
The reunion was a pure accident, unplanned by anyone involved.
UsageOften a happy accident, a lucky accident, or an accident of birth, history or nature.
Similarcoincidence, fluke, happenstance
Oppositedesign
Note
Here the word keeps its neutral Latin core and implies no harm. A common frame is an accident of, as in Celia Deane-Drummond's "an accident of nature" in The Ethics of Nature, where it marks something as unplanned rather than unfortunate. Unlike the mishap meaning, it can be lucky as easily as unlucky.
- 3A polite term for an instance of losing control of one's bladder or bowels, or for the urine or feces that result.
The nurse cleaned up quietly after the patient had an accident.
He was embarrassed by the accident and changed his clothes quickly.
UsageUsually have an accident, often with a place: the puppy had an accident on the rug.
Note
Context does all the work of telling it from a crash. On the carpet usually points to this, while on the highway points to a collision. It is a gentle, safe choice in front of patients and owners alike.
- 4Chance itself, thought of as the force that makes things happen without anyone planning them, rather than any one chance event.
He stumbled on the solution entirely by accident.
The old manuscript survived the fire by sheer accident.
UsageMost often in by accident, the opposite of on purpose or by design. No a: by sheer accident.
Oppositepurpose
Note
Chance as a force, used as a mass noun with no article: "Accident played a major part in both," Robert M. Adams wrote of Montaigne's life and writing. Its most familiar home is the phrase by accident, the opposite of by design. Richard Chenevix Trench uses it that way: "Thou cam'st not to thy place by accident, / It is the very place God meant for thee."
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Robert M. Adams wrote the quoted sentence about Montaigne's life and writing. en.wiktionary.org
- Richard Chenevix Trench en.wikipedia.org
- Trench wrote the quoted lines. en.wikiquote.org
Less common meanings
- 5A pregnancy that happens without being intended or planned.
She admitted that the pregnancy had been an accident.
He joked that all three pregnancies had been accidents.
UsageUsually after be, as in the pregnancy was an accident.
Note
One of the newer branches of the word, recorded from 1932. The euphemism hides the circumstances rather than the subject, so it suits frank but tactful conversation.
- 6In law, an unforeseen and extraordinary event lying outside the range of ordinary calculation.
The contract excused performance in the event of an accident outside the parties' control.
The court held that the earthquake was an accident beyond ordinary calculation, so the builder was not liable.
Note
In this legal sense the word is narrower than the everyday one. Its Latin name is casus, and the test is whether the interference lay outside the range of ordinary calculation, so an event that careful foresight could have anticipated does not qualify. That is why it is invoked to excuse liability, much like an act of God. Insurance policies, by contrast, often use accident more broadly.
- 7Describing a vehicle, aircraft, or other form of transportation that has been involved in an accident.
Investigators photographed the accident vehicle before it was removed.
The accident aircraft was transported to a secure facility for analysis.
Note
Investigators' shorthand for the vehicle that was involved, as opposed to others nearby: investigators' reports speak of "the accident airplane" when naming its make and model. It is used only before a noun, so it is not comparable and cannot follow be. Unlike accidental, it says nothing about chance, only about which machine was involved in the accident.
- 8A property, fact, or relation that results from chance or is nonessential rather than fundamental to a thing.
Philosophers distinguish a substance from its accidents, such as color or size.
That the table is brown is an accident, not part of its essence.
Note
Here the word is the partner of essence. It names what a thing happens to have rather than what makes it what it is, an idea from the Aristotelian and scholastic traditions, where the Latin form accidens survives as a synonym. William James uses the pair in The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902): the essence of conversion stays the same while "its accidents would be different."
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- The distinction between essence and accident belongs to Aristotelian and scholastic traditions. en.wikipedia.org
- Accidens is a Latin-derived synonym of accident in this sense. en.wiktionary.org
- William James wrote The Varieties of Religious Experience. gutenberg.org
- The Varieties of Religious Experience was first published in 1902. commons.wikimedia.org
- James contrasts the unchanged essence of conversion with different accidents, using the exact quoted words. gutenberg.org
- 9A humorous or derogatory term for a person whose birth resulted from an unintended pregnancy.
He laughed and called himself a happy accident.
Being the family accident became a running joke between the siblings.
UsageOften said of oneself: I was an accident. Happy accident or little accident sounds warm; said of someone else, it can hurt.
Note
An extension of the pregnancy euphemism from the pregnancy to the child, and its tone depends largely on who is speaking. Parents saying "our sweet little accident" or people describing themselves are usually being affectionate or wry.
- 10In traditional grammar, a variable feature of a word, such as its gender, number, or case, as distinct from its essential meaning.
- 11In geology, an irregular feature of a surface that has no apparent cause.
- 12In geology, a sudden discontinuity in the ground, such as a thick fault or a bed of unstable material.
- 13In heraldry, a point or mark that may be either retained or left off a coat of arms.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
First recorded in the late 14th century, it came from Old French accident, from Latin accidēns, the present participle of accidō ("happen"), which was formed from ad ("to") plus cadō ("fall"). The sense of "unintended pregnancy" is first attested in 1932.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- The English word is first recorded in the late fourteenth century. en.wiktionary.org
- The word derives from Old French accident and ultimately Latin accidēns, the present participle of accidō, meaning happen. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin accidō was formed from ad, meaning to, and cadō, meaning fall. en.wiktionary.org
- The unintended-pregnancy sense is first attested in 1932. en.wiktionary.org