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casual, a. (n.)|ˈkæʒ(j)uːəl, ˈkæzjuːəl|
Also 4–5 casuel, 5–7 -all.
[a. F. casuel, ad. L. cāsuāl-is depending on chance, f. cāsu-s: see case n.1]
A. adj.
1. a. Subject to, depending on, or produced by chance; accidental, fortuituous.
c1374Chaucer Troylus iv. 391 It is but casuel plesaunce. c1440Gesta Rom. 40 (Harl. MS.) By a casuel happe or by chaunce I was ny dreynt. 1590Swinburn Testaments 132 Of conditions..Some be casuall, such as are not in the power of that man to whome they are imposed, but either in the power of some other thing, or person, so that the euent thereof is to vs vncertaine. 1614Raleigh Hist. World (J.) That which seemeth most casual and subject to fortune, is yet disposed by the ordinance of God. 1670Dryden Tyran. Love iii. i, Him who thought A casual World was from wild Atoms wrought. 1672Covent Gard. Drollery 231* His words like casual Atoms made a thought. 1705Stanhope Paraphr. II. 497 How casual soever things..may appear, yet there is One who ruleth over all. 1763J. Brown Poetry & Mus. vi. 113 The Improvement..was not casual, but the Result of a natural Progression. 1879Lubbock Sci. Lect. ii. 52 Are these differences merely casual and accidental, or have they a meaning and a purpose?
†b. Non-essential; = accidental 3. Obs.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iv. iv. (1495) 84 Some pro⁓prytees..ben secundary and casuall. 1655–60Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 196/1 It is Principle of the Platonists, that every created thing hath a three-fold being; Casual, Formal, participated.
†c. Used, like accidental, of untoward events.
c1386[cf. casually 1 b]. 1577Holinshed Chron. I. 130/1 In Ethelberts time the citie of Canturburie was burned by casuall fire. 1586Cogan Haven Health ccxiii. (1636) 222 Naturall death, which few attaine unto, but are prevented by death casuall. 1667Milton P.L. xi. 566 Where casual fire Had wasted woods. 1758Johnson Idler No. 4 ⁋9 Who, by a casual hurt..lie pining in want and anguish.
d. Golf. casual water: see quot. 1899.
1899Rules of Golf, St. Andrews 3 ‘Casual water’ shall mean any temporary accumulation of water (whether caused by rainfall or otherwise) which is not one of the ordinary and recognised hazards of the course. 1957Encycl. Brit. X. 506A/1 Paths, bare patches of ground and temporary accumulations of water (called casual water) are not hazards.
2. Occurring or coming at uncertain times; not to be calculated on, uncertain, unsettled.
c1460Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. (1714) 47 The Kyngs Extraordynary chargys ar so casuel, that no Man may knowe them in certeynte. c1525–30More De Quat. Noviss. Wks. 80/2 We call no sicknes by that name, but such as be casual and come and goe. 1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. I. i. 5 Both the known and casual Revenue. 1788Priestley Lect. Hist. iv. xxi. 231 The accounts of the royal revenue, whether certain or casual. 1818Cruise Digest III. 437 An escheat is a casual profit, quod accidit domino ex eventu et ex insperato. 1876Grote Eth. Fragm. v. 174 Not for a casual period but for a complete lifetime.
3. Occurring or brought about without design or premeditation; coming up or presenting itself ‘as it chances’.
1667Milton P.L. ix. 223 What wonder if..object new Casual discourse draw on. a1674Clarendon Hist. Reb. (J.) The commissioners entertained themselves..in general and casual discourses. 1722De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 245 They talked of casual things. 1794Sullivan View Nat. I. 97 Anaxagoras..would seem to have had more than a casual glimpse of truth. 1863Burton Bk. Hunter 17 A mere casual spectator. 1864D. Mitchell Sev. Stor. 70, I made some casual remark about the weather. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. xii. 263 I'll mix with 'em in a casual way.
†4. Liable to happen; incidental to. Obs.
c1440Gesta Rom. 275 (Harl. MS.) Of such men it is to dred, for casuall vengeaunce. c1565Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (1728) 46 It is but casual to a man to fall in an offence. 1593Bilson Govt. Christ's Ch. 284 When they dissent, which in all persons is casuall. 1610Healey St. Aug. City of God i. viii. 14 Tell me whether any thing be casuall vnto the good, that tendeth not to their good. c1645Howell Lett. (1650) II. 121.
†5.
a. Subject to chance or accident; frail, uncertain, precarious. Obs.
†b. Liable to. Obs.
(Cf. mod.F. use of casuel for fragile, censured by Littré.)
1529More Comf. agst. Trib. iii. Wks. 1219/1 Landes seme not so casual as money is or plate. 1568Abp. Parker Corr. (1853) 325, I carry about me such a casual body. 15..Vaux Content. Mind in Parad. Dainty Devices (1576) The body..to a million of mishaps Is casual every hour. 1611Shakes. Cymb. i. iv. 100 Your brace of vnprizeable Estimations, the one is but fraile, and the other Casuall. 1620Markham Farew. Husb. (1625) 127 Of all Graine it [Oats] is least casuall. 1669Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 200 In case..the weather prove casual. 1727Swift State Irel. Wks. 1755 V. ii. 166 A trade casual, corrupted and at mercy. 1729Franklin Ess. Wks. 1840 II. 272 If the security is casual.
6. a. Of persons or their actions: Not to be depended on, uncertain, unmethodical, haphazard, ‘happy-go-lucky’. colloq. or slang.
[1624Fletcher Rule a Wife, &c. iii. Wks. 1778 III. 457 Sanc. Wilt thou lend me any? Cac. Not a farthing, captain; Captains are casual things.] 1883Durham Univ. Jrnl. 24 Mar., A ‘casual’ man is one whose manner of life is altogether the sport of chance. 1886W. Hooper Sk. Academic Life 10 He takes his meals in a casual sort of way, without any attempt at regulation.
b. Showing (real or assumed) unconcern or lack of interest.
1916‘Boyd Cable’ Action Front 105 ‘Don't feel particularly hungry,’ answered Toffee, with an attempt to appear as off-handed and casual and at ease as his questioner. 1924R. Macaulay Orphan Island xvii. 230 She was casual and indifferent, but Rosamond..stood up and said ‘Yes’.
†7. Casuistic. Obs. rare.
1672Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 114 The Casual Divinity of the Jesuites. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v., Osiander..has published a system of casual theology, containing the solution of dubious questions, and cases of conscience.
¶8. Confused with causal. Obs.
1578Timme Calvin on Gen. 314 We must put in the casuall word Fear not Abram: bycause I am thy buckler. 1668Howe Bless. Righteous (1825) 28 It is not at all casual of this blessedness, but is that which the..Lawgiver thought meet..to make requisite thereto.
9. In such phrases as casual labourer, one who does casual or occasional jobs, but has no fixed employment; also casual hand; casual labour: see quot. 1923; casual poor, those occasionally in a state of poverty; those not receiving regular or systematic relief, esp. those not permanently inmates of workhouses, etc., but admitted for occasional relief (cf. B. 3 b); casual ward, a ward reserved for such occasional relief.
1593Nashe Christ's T. 85 a, If wee cannot keepe and cherrish the casuall poore amongst vs. 1849Bright Irel., Sp. (1876) 164 For the support of the Irish casual poor. a1852Mayhew Lond. Labour (1861) II. 220/2 This mixture of constant and casual hands is..a necessary consequence of all trades which depend upon the seasons... Those who have paid attention to the subject of dock labour and the subject of casual labour in general. Ibid. 336/1 Greenwich may be looked upon as the first stage or halt for casual labourers, on their way to London. 1860Ibid. III. 382 (Hoppe) He considered a casual ward necessary in every union. 1876Green Stray Stud. 17, The bulk of its population consisted of casual labourers. 1887Pall Mall G. 24 Oct. 1/2 The casual wards in the central parts of the metropolis. 1905Daily Chron. 25 July 5/4 He would not admit that the policy of the guardians had increased the casual labour system. 1908H. W. Caslon Letterpress Printing 64 Casual labour is, and must be, a disturbing element in the costing of work. 1923J. D. Hackett Labor Terms in Management Engineering May, Casual Labor. ‘Unskilled help, employed and discharged at frequent intervals, and dependent upon the varying demand of the labor market from day to day, without any prospect of continuous employment.’ (What's What in Labour Movement, Waldo R. Brown, p. 59.)
10. Law. casual ejector, the defendant in the fictitious action formerly allowed for the purpose of determining a title to land.
The casual ejector, a fictitious person, was stated to have ejected the plaintiff from the land, which (as was stated) he held on lease of the person actually claiming the land. The action involved the proving of the lessor's right to grant the lease, and so incidentally determined his title to the land.
1768Blackstone Comm. III. 202 The lessee is entitled to his action of ejectment against the tenant, or this casual ejector, whichever it was that ousted him.
11. Of clothes: suitable for informal wear. (Cf. B. 4.)
1939M. B. Picken Lang. of Fashion 23/3 Casual, designed for easy, informal wear; of sports or semi-sports type; as, a casual coat. 1952Evening News 5 Jan. (Advt.), 560 Prs. casual shoes. 1958Times 20 Jan. 11/1 It is sport and casual clothes that visitors come especially to see.
B. n.
†1. A casual event, a chance. (Chiefly in pl.)
1566Drant Horace's Sat. v. C iv, To sterte up in astrologie the casuals of men. 1652Gaule Magastrom. 162 Providence is in the ordering of casuals as well as fatals.
2. A casual revenue or income; see sense 2 above.
1825T. Jefferson Autobiog. Wks. 1859 I. 103 The tithes and casuals of the Clergy.
3. a. A casual workman; a casual visitor, etc. colloq.
a1852Mayhew Lond. Labour (1861) II. 218/1 The ‘casuals’ being mostly paid by the day. Ibid. 220/2 Of the scavagers proper there are..two distinct orders of workmen, ‘the regulars and casuals’ to adopt the trade terms. 1878Hallberger's Ill. Mag. 32 (Hoppe) The family, tradespeople, visitors and casuals [not to mention run-away knocks]. 1880Blackmore Erema li. (Hoppe), Not a farthing did his lordship ever pay..to support his casual [bastard]. 188719th Cent. Oct. 488 The true casual is seldom employed. 1889C. Booth Life & Labour I. 202 The work of the casuals was a dead loss to the contractor. 1930L. G. D. Acland Early Canterbury Runs v. 94 He did not of course pay the casuals very big wages.
b. A casual pauper; a casual ward. See sense 9 above. colloq.
1865Pall Mall G. 24 Oct. 11 The guardians of Marylebone had to admit 800 or 900 casuals a week into their workhouse. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. II. 69. 1866 J. Greenwood in Pall Mall G. Feb., A night in a workhouse, by an amateur casual. 1887Pall Mall G. 24 Oct. 1/2 The accommodation in casuals and workhouses. Ibid. This ward..holds ninety—about the usual number for a London casual.
c. Bot. and Zool. A plant, animal, etc., found away from its normal area or habitat; an alien, casual immigrant.
1899Westm. Gaz. 24 Aug. 3/1 The wanton slaughter of our rarer-winged ‘casuals’ is positively exasperating. 1926Tansley & Chipp Study of Veget. ii. 11 A species which is a mere alien intruder into the association..may be called a casual. 1959A. R. Clapham et al. Excursion Flora Brit. Isles 550 Casual, an introduced plant which has not become established though it occurs in places where it is not cultivated. 1959E. F. Linssen Beetles I. 12 ‘Casuals’, i.e. casual immigrants, accidental introductions, etc.
4. Mil. Cf. casualty 2 b.
1853Stocqueler Milit. Encycl. 53 Casuals, or Casualties, a term..signifying men that are dead (since first enlisted), or have been discharged, or have deserted.
5. Esp. in pl. Casual clothes (cf. A. 11); spec., a style of shoe with a low heel and shallow vamp.
1941Amer. Speech XVI. 96 They are all right for casuals or spectator wear, but I'd get that formal. 1958Woman's Jrnl. Mar. 3 (Advt.), Classic casual in pebbleweave. 1958Observer 20 Apr. 11/4 Into the series of fashion shows will go..casuals from Italy and France. 1959Vogue June 71 Lastly, casuals—not all necessarily flat but on rounded cotton-reel and thimble-heels.
C. Comb. † casual-wise adv., casually.
1601Chester Love's Mart. cxlviii, If any happen casuall⁓wise to dye.
Add:[A.] 12. Of a sexual relationship or (an instance of) sexual activity: conducted by individuals who are not regular or established sexual partners. Also used to designate a person's partner in such activity.
[c1856Paul Pry in C. Pearl Girl with Swansdown Seat (1955) vi. 256 French letters..prevent the spread of venereal contagion in casual intercourse between the sexes.] 1971Newsweek 21 June 99/1 The way some..see it, the increasing number of American couples now participating in some form of group sex are actually attempting a radical redefinition of marriage that would make sex as casual and unemotional as a handshake or eating a steak. 1973R. Keyes We, the Lonely People v. 99 The rise of swinging and casual sex generally. 1976Economist 24 Apr. 50/3 It is..reported that [sc. in Cambodia] the rice ration in some areas has increased, and marriage is now permitted again—although casual sexual relationships still bring the death penalty. 1981Washington Post 20 Jan. b11/2 The sexual relationship between casual lovers, or husband and wife, seems to me usually to be a fusion..of opposite poles. 1983Family July 27/4 Many homosexuals get involved in gay clubs more to find friends than to get casual sex. 1985Los Angeles Times 11 Apr. i. 3/1 Men who father children as a result of casual relationships. 1992L. Tuttle Lost Futures 4 Even when everybody did it, casual sex had never been her scene.
[B.] 6. In the U.K., a (male) youth who belongs to a peer group favouring a casual style of dress and conventional appearance, often characterized as aggressively nationalistic and freq. associated with football-related violence.
1980Daily Mirror 10 Apr. 13/4 A Casual, 17-year-old printer, Jeff McNamara, lives in a skinhead stronghold in East London. Yet he dresses defiantly in smart slacks. 1985Guardian 22 May 1/6 Muranyi and his army—called the Cambridge Casuals because of their Pringle sweaters and Nike training shoes—spent two months planning the attack. Chelsea fans were lured to an obscure pub..and then set upon by a gang of 30. 1986Final Rep. Home Office Comm. Inquiry Crowd Safety & Control at Sports Grounds (Cmnd. 9710) v. 57 One of the significant developments in Scottish football has been the emergence of the so-called ‘Casuals’... They attach themselves to a club and adopt its name. They are bent on fighting the opposition fans in order to enhance their own prestige. 1988Arena Autumn/Winter 29/3, I fail to see why people who see football aggro as infantile and pathetic should be regarded as ignorant and uneducated. Surely it is you soccer casuals who are uneducated, behaving like animals as you do. 1992D. McLean Bucket of Tongues 34 I'm a bit out of touch myself these days to be honest. When I was on the casual scene we were all into Fila sports gear and side shades and that. Ibid. 36 Football's a game, fighting's more than that. Football's something you just do, or just watch, but a casual, that's something you are. |