Webster's English Dictionary

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accidental

1. ac.ci.den.tal \.ak-s*-'dent-*l\ \-'dent-le-, -*l-e-\ \-'dent-*l-n*s\ aj 
   1: arising from extrinsic causes : NONESSENTIAL  2: occurring by chance or 
   unexpectedly ADVENTITIOUS: ACCIDENTAL stresses chance; FORTUITOUS so 
   strongly suggests chance that it often connotes entire absence of cause; 
   CONTINGENT suggests possibility of happening but stresses uncertainty and 
   dependence on other future events for existence or occurrence; CASUAL 
   stresses lack of real or apparent premeditation or intent; INCIDENTAL 
   stresses nonessential or secondary character; ADVENTITIOUS implies a lack 
   of relation to the original or intrinsic character of a thing {adventitious 
   importance} - ac.ci.den.tal.ly av SYN syn FORTUITOUS, CONTINGENT, CASUAL, 
   INCIDENTAL, 
2. accidental n 1: a nonessential property  2a: a chromatically altered 
   note (as a sharp or flat) foreign to a key indicated by a signature 2b: a 
   prefixed sign indicating an accidental