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accidens. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
accidens, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
accidens in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Etymology
From Latin .
Noun
accidens (plural accidentia)
- (logic) Synonym of accident (“a property, fact, or relation that is the result of chance or is nonessential or nonsubstantive”)
1886, Prasanna K. Roy, A Text-book of Deductive Logic: For the Use of Students, page 83:An Accidens (or accident) of an individual, genus, or species is any attribute which is possessed by it, and which does not follow from, or form a part of, its comprehension. […] If, on the other hand, an accidens is sometimes present and sometimes absent in an individual, […]
1896, James Welton, A Manual of Logic, volume 1, page 86:But, where there is no apparent reason why the attribute should always be found in the individuals of a class, it is called an Accidens.
Latin
Etymology 1
Present active participle of accidō (“fall down or upon; happen”).
Pronunciation
Participle
accidēns (genitive accidentis); third-declension one-termination participle
- falling down, upon, at or near, descending
- happening (to), taking place, occurring, befalling
Declension
Third-declension participle.
1When used purely as an adjective.
Noun
accidēns n (genitive accidentis); third declension
- accident, circumstance (chance event)
- 1695, Teutsch-Lateinisches WörterBüchlein Zum Nutz und Ergötzung der Schuljugend zusammengetragen, Und mit 6000. darzu dienlichen Bildern gezieret. Deme noch über das eine kurtzgefaste Lateinische Sprach-Übung Und Zimliche Anzahl Auserlesener Sprüche beygefüget. — Dictionariolum germanico-latinum In Usum & delectationem Scholasticae Juventutis concinnatum, & aliquot millibus huic rei inservientibus Iconibus illustratum. Cui insuper accessit, Epitome Grammatices Latinae cum selectarum Sententiarum Farragine., Nuremberg (Nürnberg, Noriberga), p.197:
Accidentia nominum sunt septem: Species, Figura, Persona, Genus, Declinatio, Numerus, & Casus.- Accidents of nouns are seven: species, shape/figure, person, gender, declination, number, & case.
Declension
Third-declension noun (neuter, “pure” i-stem).
Descendants
Etymology 2
Form of the verb accīdō (“fell, cut down; use up; impair”).
Pronunciation
Participle
accīdēns (genitive accīdentis); third-declension one-termination participle
- using up, consuming, diminishing
- impairing, weakening, shattering
Declension
Third-declension participle.
1When used purely as an adjective.
References
- “accidens”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- accidens in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
Middle French
Noun
accidens m
- plural of accident