accidental
noun
- note whose pitch is not a member of the scale or mode indicated by the most recently applied key signature
adjective
- by accident, not deliberate
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˌæk.sɪˈdɛn.tl̩/
adj
Etymology: From Middle English accidental, from Anglo-Norman accidentel, Middle French accidentel, accidental, and their source, Late Latin accidēntālis; corresponding to accident + -al.
- Pertaining to accident and not essence; thus, inessential; incidental; secondary.
- Pertaining to accident and not essence; thus, inessential; incidental; secondary.
- 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.
noun
Etymology: From Middle English accidental, from Anglo-Norman accidentel, Middle French accidentel, accidental, and their source, Late Latin accidēntālis; corresponding to accident + -al.
- A property which is not essential; a nonessential; anything happening accidentally.
“He conceived it just that accidentals ... should sink with the substance of the accusation.”
- 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.
- A sharp, flat, or natural, occurring not at the commencement of a piece of music as the signature, but before a particular note.
- Part of a text that has a mainly structural purpose, such as spelling, punctuation, or capitalization.