accidentn.

Brit.

/ˈaksᵻd(ə)nt/, U.S.

/ˈæksədnt/

Forms: Middle English accidens (plural), Middle English–1500s accidente, Middle English–1500s accydente, Middle English–1600s accydent, Middle English– accident, 1500s acidant, 1500s–1600s accedent, 1600s accidentt, 1700s axcedent (nonstandard); Scottish pre-1700 accedent, pre-1700 accidente, pre-1700 acsedant, pre-1700 axedent, pre-1700 axsident, pre-1700 1700s– accident.

Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French accident; Latin accident-, accidēns.

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Middle French accident (French accident ) unfortunate occurrence or incident, vicissitude of fortune, indication, exterior sign, symptom (all 12th cent. in Anglo-Norman or Old French), chance occurrence (13th cent.), non-essential quality, (of a word) grammatical property, morphological variation (all 14th cent.) and its etymon classical Latin accident-, accidēns accidental happening, chance event, contingency, circumstance, (in grammar and rhetoric) attribute, in post-classical Latin also (in theology and philosophy) contingent attribute (3rd cent.), symptom (c400), grammatical property, morphological variation, adjective (5th cent.: see note), use as noun of present participle of accidere to fall, to happen < ac- ac- prefix + cadere to fall (see cadence n.). Compare Old Occitan accident , Catalan accident (13th cent.), Spanish accidente (13th cent.), Portuguese acidente (14th cent.), Italian accidente (13th cent.). Compare also post-classical Latin accidentia accidence n.¹The earliest instances of classical Latin accidēns in sense ‘attribute’ are in Quintilian, twice explicitly rendering ancient Greek συμβεβηκός as used (sometimes in contrast with οὐσία ‘substance’) in the rhetorical writings of Hermagoras and Theodorus of Gadara. The Greek word had been used in Aristotle (e.g. Metaphysics 1052^a18, 1052^a31) as a philosophical term denoting a contingent attribute, or an attribute necessarily resulting from the notion of something, but not entering into its definition; Christian Latin writers from Tertullian onwards use accidens in the former of these philosophical senses (more or less precisely, and with various refinements in scholastic writings), often in contrast with substantia substance n. Post-classical Latin accidens came to be used for ‘adjective’ because non-essential attributes are naturally indicated with adjectives (see Quintilian 8. 3. 70 and Priscian 2. 83. 18). Compare also accidence n.² and discussion at that entry. Compare the following attestations in an English context of Latin accidentia , use as noun of the neuter nominative plural of accidens , denoting a type of adjective, and in sense ‘grammatical properties’ (compare sense 3):OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 12 Sume [naman] synd accidentia, þæt synt gelimplice, þe gelimpað anum gehwylcum: niger coruus blac hrem, profundum mare deop sæ.OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 92 Ðes dæl, þæt is pronomen, hæfð syx accidentia, þæt synd [syx] gelimp: him belimpþ species, þæt is, hiw; persona, þæt is, had; and genvs, þæt is, cynn; and figvra, þæt is, anfeald hiw oððe gefeged; and nvmervs, þæt is, getel; and casvs gebigednyss.

I. Something that is present but not necessarily so, and therefore non-essential.

a. Philosophy. In Aristotelian thought: a property or quality not essential to a substance or object; something that does not constitute an essential component, an attribute. Cf. substance n. 4a.In Scholastic Theology: spec. those non-essential, material qualities which remain unchanged in the sacramental bread and wine after transubstantiation (cf. element n. 3) (now historical).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical proposition > [noun] > attribute > accident

accident1395

accidencea1475

inseparable quality1551

show1560

adjunct1581

society > faith > worship > sacrament > communion > eucharistic doctrines > transubstantiation > [noun] > quality remaining after

accident1395

Remonstr. against Romish Corruptions (Titus) (1851) 43 (MED) Greete doctouris of scole affermen generali that mannis vnderstondinge mai not comprehende an accident withouten suget.

1402 Reply Friar Daw Topias in T. Wright Polit. Poems & Songs (1861) II. 107 Thou berist us on honde that we seien ther is not Cristis bodye, but roundnesse and whitenesse and accident withouten suget.

1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 439/3 Whan the breed is conuerted into the precious body of our lord the accidentes abyden..whytnesse, roundenesse and sauoure.

a1500 (c1380) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 466 (MED) It were ydolatrye to loute þus an accident, & no man durste seye til nou þat accident is goddis body.

1548 E. Gest Treat. againste Masse sig. Ciii Christes body is adjudged of no man to be accidented notwythstanding it is presented in the accidentes of the bread.

1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. i. xiii. f. 39^v He sticketh not to fayne newe accidentes in God.

1656 tr. T. Hobbes Elements Philos. ii. viii. 76 Wherefore I define an accident to be the Manner of our conception of Body.

1664 H. More Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity xiii. 45 But I demand, Whether is it less Idolatry to adore the Accidents of the Bread..or the Bread it self?

1701 tr. F. Burgersdijck Introd. Art Logick xvi. 57 Artificials are certain Accidents Concrete with their Substances.

1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued I. i. 17 Disposition, configuration, and motion are..accidents in ancient dialect, or modifications according to modern philosophers.

1846 J. S. Mill Syst. Logic (ed. 2) i. vii. §8. 181 Inseparable accidents are properties which are universal to the species but not necessary to it.

1863 E. V. Neale Analogy Thought & Nature 45 The accidents of a substance while they are effects of its substantiality, determine the character of the substance which causes them.

1901 Post-graduate 16 111 The accidents of a substance are very largely the product of its environment.

1975 G. Leff William of Ockham iii. ix. 604 The substance of the bread and wine ceases to exist and only the accidents remain.

2000 A. Hastings in A. Hastings et al. Oxf. Compan. Christian Thought 714/2 Medieval theologians believed that they could express what happens in terms of Aristotle's distinction between substance and accidents.

b. Textual Criticism. = accidental n. 1b.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > copiousness > [noun] > action of padding > matter used as padding > matter not essential to author's meaning

accident1942

accidental1942

1942 W. W. Greg Editorial Probl. Shakespeare p. 1 What may conveniently be called the ‘accidents’ of presentation, namely the spelling, punctuation, and other scribal or typographical details.

1967 J. D. Jump in C. Marlowe Tamburlaine the Great (new ed.) p. xxvi The readings of the octavos named are identical in substance, but not necessarily in the accidents of spelling, punctuation, etc.

2009 C. Ackerley in W. Van Mierlo Textual Scholarship & Material Bk. 109 She was obliged to observe..conventions of style and setting (textual accidents), yet time and again she had to make difficult decisions about disputed words and phrasing.

2. More generally: any accidental or non-essential accompaniment, quality, or property; an accessory, a non-essential.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > existence > extrinsicality or externality > [noun] > non-essentialness > that which is non-essential or accident

accidentala1398

adventionc1475

accident1491

circumstance1599

under-accident1632

contingential1647

modality1647

adventitial1652

extrinsical1652

adventition1661

ornamental1774

inessential1778

non-essential1806

1491 in J. Cooper Cartularium Eccl. St. Nicholai Aberdonensis (1888) I. 258 His full compt..bath of properteis and accidentis pertening to tham.

1562 Certayn Serm. preached in Lincs. in H. Latimer 27 Serm. ii. f. 119 Thys is the chiefest poynte in theyr callyng, and not haukyng and huntyng, whiche is but an accidente.

c1585 R. Browne Answere to Cartwright 35 Why then will he haue the Lordes discipline..to be but an accident or hangby to the Church?

1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. i. iii. ii. 49 Old age, from which it [sc. melancholy] is almost an inseparable accident.

a1637 B. Jonson Eng. Gram. i. i. 35 in Wks. (1640) III Grammar is the art of true, and well speaking a Language: the writing is but an Accident.

1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World i. 6 We had also a third Design in our Voyage, tho' it may be esteem'd an Accident to the rest.

1815 J. Aster Ode to Fancy 22 Oft have I thought some bond of mighty strength Had linked me in a strange identity With outward accidents of Nature.

1843 C. Kingsley Lett. (1878) I. 104 Eternity is really his home, and Time but an accident to him.

1872 W. Minto Man. Eng. Prose Lit. Introd. 5 ‘Complexity’ in the grammatical sense, must be regarded as an accident of the period and not part of its essence.

1923 J. S. Huxley Ess. Biologist iv. 139 These differences may be biologically speaking non-significant, mere accidents of the primary difference.

1959 N. O. Brown Life against Death iii. viii. 99 Death is no external accident; death is an intrinsic part of life.

1997 P. Virilio in A. Kroker & M. Kroker Digital Delirium 42 Cyberspace is an accident of the real.

3. Grammar. In plural. The grammatical properties of a word (such as number, case, mood, tense) which are marked by morphological change; (also) the morphological changes or inflections which express these properties. Now chiefly historical (replaced by accidence n.² 1).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > morphology > inflection > [noun]

accidenta1504

declining1565

flexion1614

inflection1668

a1504 J. Holt Lac Puerorum (1508) iii. sig. E.vi Also pryce, tyme, Instrument, & other lyke Accidentes I calle case, gendre, nombre, persone, mode, and tense.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement Introd. sig. B3^v Nownes substantiues haue thre chefe accidentes, gender, nombre, and parson.

1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xv. 143 Not changing one word for another, by their accidents or cases.

1612 J. Brinsley Posing of Parts f. 1 The Accidents; that is, the things belonging to the parts of speech.

1774 Ld. Monboddo Of Origin & Progress of Lang. II. iii. xiii. 478 In like manner voices and numbers, and such like accidents of words, are formed.

1801 H. Lebedeff Gram. Pure & Mixed E. Indian Dial. 4 The Accidents of the noun are number, case, and gender.

1871 Bullions' Princ. Eng. Gram. (new ed.) 8 Parsing is the art of resolving a sentence into its elements or parts of speech, stating the accidents or grammatical properties of each word, and pointing out its relation to other words with which it is connected.

1952 P. Boehner Medieval Logic ii. i. 21 Ockham..further adds the common accidents of verbs, such as mood, person, tense, and number.

2002 A. Luhtala in P. Swiggers & A. Wouters Grammatical Theory & Philos. of Lang. in Antiq. 264 (note) There is evidence that Aristarchus regarded the noun as a declinable part of speech, distinguishing case, number and gender as accidents of the noun.

†4. Heraldry. An additional point or mark that may be retained or omitted in a coat of arms. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1580 E. Knight Triall of Truth f. 12 The millers hackney vnagreeable with the true rules and accident of armes.]

1610 J. Guillim Display of Heraldrie i. iii. 7 I call those notes or markes, Accidents of Armes, that..may bee annexed vnto them, or taken from them, their substance still remaining.

1716 S. Kent Gram. Heraldry p. xii Those are called Accidents, which are not Necessary Parts, but such as being taken away or chang'd, the Substance of the Arms is still the same.

1724 A. Johnston Notitia Anglicana I. p. xli By the Accidents of Arms, he means their Tincture and Differences; which latter are either certain Additaments..or else, certain Badges of Disgrace.

1854 W. S. Evans Gram. Brit. Heraldry (ed. 2) 27 Accidents of Arms are those notes or marks which have no inherent quality or participation of the substance or essence of them; but may be annexed unto them, or taken from them, their substance still remaining.

1889 C. N. Elvin Dict. Heraldry 3/2 Accidents of Arms, a term sometimes met with which appears to mean nothing else in blazoning than the strictures and marks of difference.]

II. Something that happens or occurs.

a. Something that happens by chance or without expectation; an event that is without apparent or deliberate cause. (In later use chiefly with modifying adjective, as fortunate, happy, historical.)

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > [noun] > chance or fortuitous event

adventure?c1225

hapc1275

chancea1300

fortunea1375

accidenta1398

casualtya1513

to-fall1562

withfall1562

casual1566

casuality1574

stour1583

upcasta1616

contingency1620

haphazard1651

contingence1660

unaccountable1789

happen-so1816

happenchance1847

happenstance1857

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 74 Now of somme accidentis þat falliþ [L. accidentibus que contingunt] aboute man, be kende & oþir wise..somwhat schal be Iseyde.

a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iii. l. 918 This accident so petous was to here And ek so lyk a soth at pryme face.

?1483 W. Caxton tr. Caton iv. sig. kvi By somme accidentes & wantynges of nature thauncyent retournen and becomen as chyldren.

1555 H. Braham Inst. Gentleman sig. Gij This manne can litle skyl..to saue himself harmlesse from the perilous accidentes of this world, keping y^e wulf from the doore (as they cal it).

1581 B. Rich Don Simonides II. sig. Niv^v When as such a one at the instante is resident, who with eloquence may blazen out the myraculousnesse of the accident.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) i. iii. 134 I spake..Of moouing accident of flood and field.

1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. vii. 266 The most memorable accidents I heard of in this County to have at any time befallen the Solipedous Animals.

a1714 E. Freke Remembrances (2001) 80 One of my best houses in the parish, in which Jams Wallbutt lived and sold alle, by some accidentt of carlesness was in aboutt three howres time burnt downe to the ground.

1756 Monitor No. 40. 393 In a short time, by small accidents and unlikely instruments, he was more plunged and embroiled than ever.

1819 P. B. Shelley Cenci iii. i. 50 Some accident might interpose To rescue him from what is now most sure.

1872 C. Darwin in Life & Lett. (1887) III. 169 On this view, a Rotifer or Tardigrade is adapted to its humble conditions of life by a happy accident; and this I cannot believe.

1960 New Scientist 10 Nov. 1234/1 Most scientific discoveries are made by following up a fortunate accident or an unexpected observation.

2009 N.Y. Mag. 28 Sept. 28/1 Considering all the free-floating fury against our first black president, it seems a historical accident that Obama did not get Swiftboated in 2008.

†b. An occurrence, incident, event. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > occurrence > [noun] > occurrence or event

weird971

redeOE

thingOE

limpc1200

casea1250

tidingc1275

timinga1325

being?c1400

incident?1462

advenement1490

occurrent1523

accidenta1525

occurrence1539

affair1550

event1554

happening1561

événement1567

success1588

betide1590

circumstance1592

arrivage1603

eveniency1660

occurrency1671

betider1674

befalling1839

whet1849

intermezzo1851

transpiration1908

a1525 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1923) I. 299 Ane litill memoriale..with principale accidentis and notables of the sam.

1571 Queen Elizabeth I in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1827) 2nd Ser. III. 1 You maie well gesse, by the accidentes of the time, whie I have not made anie answer.

1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine ii. i. 63 The most memorable Accident in this place, was the Idolatry of the Israelites to Baal-peor.

1726 J. Swift Gulliver II. iv. xi. 177 Our Voyage passed without any considerable Accident.

1830 T. Oxley Celestial Planispheres iv. 192 Note down the times of three or four remarkable accidents or events, which have happened to the Native, and find by the Planispheres, or by the Ephemeris, what the true solar arc of Direction will be.

1860 Boston Med. & Surg. Jrnl. 25 Oct. 268 In the Dental Cosmos for March, Dr. Foster reports a remarkable accident of swallowing teeth.

a. Medicine. A symptom or sign of a disease or disorder. In later use also: a symptom or process which occurs in a disease but is not considered to be an essential part of it (cf. branch I.). Also figurative. Now historical.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > symptom > [noun]

entacha1375

symptom1398

accidenta1400

showerc1400

prognostic?a1425

grudgingc1440

prognosticationc1475

grudge1562

symptomates1583

grutchinga1637

annotation1644

pathognomic1683

pathognomonic1704

prognosis1706

modality1911

society > communication > indication > [noun] > an indication or sign > symptom

accidenta1400

withfall1562

symptom1611

a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 119 (MED) Euel accidentis..as constipacioun of þe wombe, or ellis þe flix of þe wombe.

c1425 tr. J. Arderne Treat. Fistula (Sloane 6) (1910) 38 (MED) Þise bene þe accidentes of þam þat haþ bubon in þe lure: þai may ete and drynk and go, and somwhat sitte and somwhat slepe; þai be menely hungry and..þay may noȝt abstene þam fro þe priue.

c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 127 (MED) Yuele accidentis whiche þat comeþ of þe brayn & of his pannycle ben..wepinge of þe oon yȝe Or ellis an hard scotomye.

1525 tr. H. von Brunschwig Noble Experyence Vertuous Handy Warke Surg. xxvi. sig. F.iv. (heading) Of the accydentes or fallynges of dyseases that cometh to the woundes.

1563 T. Gale Certaine Wks. Chirurg. iv. ii. f. 23 Thys Unguent..dothe..remoue diuers accidentes and sycknesses.

1622 F. Bacon Hist. Raigne Henry VII 9 There began..a disease then new: which of the Accidents and manner thereof they called the Sweating-sicknesse.

1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 612 O that torment..must secret passage find To th' inmost mind, There exercise all his fierce accidents .

1720 W. Gibson Farriers New Guide ii. xlviii. 210 We shall now consider the Farcin in its more advanced State, viz. when it becomes attended with ill Accidents.

1772 J. M. Adair Comm. Princ. & Pract. Physic v. ix. 493 This separation of a proximate cause, or disease, from its accidents or symptoms is unavoidable in nosological arrangement.

1862 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 19 July 59/1 Inflammation is an accident of phthisis. More than an accident, according to some, who would hold a measure of inflammation needed to help and hand it on from stage to stage.

1882 Med. News 13 May 528/1 Patients rarely applied for treatment until the occurrence of the secondary accidents of the disease [sc. Bright's disease], as polyuria, hemorrhage from the nose, diarrhœa, etc.

1917 W. A. Pusey Princ. & Pract. Dermatol. (ed. 3) 703 The lack of resistance which they show to syphilis and the frequent serious accidents which they suffer in the early years give me grounds for fear that they will at least not be more immune to the late accidents of syphilis than the patients treated with mercury and iodids alone.

1994 16th Cent. Jrnl. 25 80 Using a medical analogy,..Saavedra argues that medicine employs different cures according to the qualities and accidents of the disease and the nature of the patient.

†b. An incidental appearance or effect; a phenomenon which may be observed but is not essential. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > [noun] > phenomenon

accidentc1405

effectc1405

apparition1481

show1560

appearency1646

appearance1667

c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Clerk's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 607 Noon accident for noon aduersitee Was seyn in hir.

?1548 Ld. Berners tr. D. de San Pedro Castell of Loue sig. G.vii Ye shulde..torne the force of your natural wysdome against the accydent of your ire.

1592 G. Harvey Foure Lett. iii. 17 Some like accidents of dislike, for breuity I ouerslip: young bloud is hot.

1625 N. Carpenter Geogr. Delineated i. x. 220 The Inhabitants of a Right Spheare in respect of the heauens haue the same accidents.

1695 J. Woodward Ess. Nat. Hist. Earth 22 These Fossil Shells are attended with the ordinary Accidents of the marine ones, ex. gr. they sometimes grow to one another.

1744 J. Harris Three Treat. ii. ii. 66 Music may imitate the Glidings, Murmurings, Tossings, Roarings, and other Accidents of Water.

1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Radius Many of these radii are found remarkably compressed, bent, or distorted, which is an accident accounted peculiar to the fossils formed in animal moulds.

1816 R. Jameson Treat. External Characters Minerals (ed. 2) 171 Another accident, extremely common, is the manner in which grouped crystals are inserted into each other.

c. An irregular feature in a landscape; an undulation.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > rising ground or eminence > [noun] > undulation

accident1600

fold1601

roll1827

roller1849

1600 G. Best in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (new ed.) III. 48 All that whole Bay is more subiect to many blooming and smoothering heates,..then any other place in all Torrida Zona: and the cause thereof is some accidents in the land.

1777 T. Campbell Philos. Surv. S. Ireland vii. 65 Every town and tract of country, nay almost every hill in Ireland, is denominated, either from some..accident of the ground without, or from some mineral within.

1784 W. Mitford Hist. Greece I. v. 203 Lycurgus..directed the circular form for incampment; unless where a mountain, a river, or some other accident of the ground afforded security.

1843 G. P. R. James Forest Days I. x. 204 The ground was broken, and a thousand beautiful accidents diversified the landscape.

1878 in 19th Cent. 42 Taking advantage of every accident of the ground to conceal himself.

1911 A. Mitchell tr. H. Bergson Creative Evol. ii. 102 The road that leads to the town is obliged to follow the ups and downs of the hills; it adapts itself to the accidents of the ground.

1992 L. L. Hunt tr. B. P. Bodmer Armature of Conquest 41 The beauty of the rivers, coastline, bays, and other natural accidents of the terrain.

7. Unexpected or unforeseen circumstance; chance, fortune; (contextually) mischance. by accident [compare Middle French, French par accident (13th cent. in Old French), post-classical Latin per accidens (4th cent.: see per accidens adv.).] : by chance, accidentally; inadvertently.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > [noun]

i-wonc1275

casec1300

adventurec1325

hap1340

accidencea1393

casualty1423

chefe1440

fortunityc1470

enchance?a1475

accidentc1485

chance1526

contingencec1530

lottery1570

casuality1574

chanceableness1581

contingency1623

fortuitiona1641

fortuitness1643

accidentalness1648

accidentality1651

fortuitousness1652

causelessnessa1660

temerity1678

fortuitya1747

spontaneity1751

felicity1809

accidentiality1814

c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Gouernaunce of Princis (1993) xxviii. 102 Men failis..be accidente.

1490 W. Caxton tr. Boke yf Eneydos xxviii. sig. Hij^v Hir deth naturalle oughte not to hauen comen yet of longe tyme, But by accydente and harde fortune.

1566 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure I. xlv. f. 248 I beleue Madame you be not ignorant that miseries and tribulations which come vpon people, fall not by accident or fortune, but by the prouidence or dispensacion of God.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. vi. 278 Consider Sir, the chance of Warre, the day Was yours by accident .

a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) I. 65 For Things said false, and never meant, Do oft prove true by accident.

1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters iii. 141 The good or ill they do depend alike upon accident.

1775 S. Johnson Let. July (1992) II. 236 Nature probably has some part in human characters, and accident has some part.

1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe II. xiv. 257 The admiration which her charms excited, when accident threw her into the power of that unprincipled voluptuary.

1876 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest I. App. 628 William, whether by accident or by design, was not admitted.

1920 Amer. Woman Aug. 5/1 But when accident had acquainted him with the Fairmonts, aunt and niece, it had thrust him, so to speak, into a different sphere.

1963 A. Baraka Blues People vi. 66 The weight of just what social circumstance and accident came together to produce the America that the Negro was a part of, had to make itself part of his life as well.

2002 New Scientist 24 Aug. 84/4 The process by which Madeira is deliberately allowed to oxidise, known as estufagem, was discovered by accident.

a. In generalized use: an unfortunate and typically unforeseen event, a disaster, a mishap; (also) unfortunate eventuality. (In early use not always distinguishable from sense 5a.)

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > adversity > calamity or misfortune > [noun] > misfortune or ill-luck > instance of misfortune or ill-luck > a mishap or unlucky accident

mistideOE

unhapc1230

chancea1300

mischancec1325

mishapa1387

accident?1490

casualtya1513

shrewd turn1565

casuality1574

misaccident1620

mishanter1754

contretemps1809

bust-up1841

pratfall1941

snafu1943

?1490 tr. Gouernayle of Helthe sig. Aiiij Ye shall nede no leche oute take accydentes of batayll and suche other.

1570 T. North tr. A. F. Doni Morall Philos. i. f. 13 But in the ende ouertaken by some accident, as warre, treason, poyson, or mans force, he falleth into deathes lappe.

1602 E. Hayes in J. Brereton Briefe Relation Discouerie Virginia 20 Our intent..[is] not to trust them too far, but to prouide against all accidents.

1688 J. Dryden Britannia Rediviva 8 No future Ills, nor Accidents appear To sully and pollute the Sacred Infant's Year.

1702 Eng. Theophrastus 230 The wisest councils may be discomposed by the smallest accidents.

1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §117 In the progress of the work we should lie so widely open to accidents.

1829 W. S. Landor Imaginary Conversat. 2nd Ser. I. xv. 473 Him I would call the powerful one, who..turns to good account the worst accidents of his fortune.

1893 Manufacturer & Builder Nov. 252/3 It insured steam boilers, machinery of every description, employers' liability, public liability and general accidents.

1904 Booklovers' Mag. May 663 This special train..is a relief train, ready to respond to any call for aid in case of accident.

1959 J. Gill Council of Florence iv. 89 There were accidents of various sorts, the breaking of booms, the fraying of stays, and a collision that damaged the oarage of one vessel.

2010 Daily Tel. 11 Mar. 20/2 The accident caused one ton of helium to leak and resulted in a series of ‘quenches’, or loss of conductivity, and a £24 million repair bill.

b. A person injured as the result of a mishap.

ΚΠ

1747 Gen. Advertiser 21 May Patients are admitted on a Letter of Recommendation from a Governor or Contributor... All Accidents are admitted without Recommendation.

1823 Lancet 19 Oct. 82/1 When you have accidents brought to you that will require a long time for their recovery, you must be exceedingly careful how you take away blood from the general system.

1856 C. Dickens Little Dorrit (1857) i. xiii. 116 ‘An accident going to the Hospital?’ he asked an old man beside him, who stood shaking his head, inviting conversation.

1916 I. M. Rubinow Standards of Health Insurance x. 159 In Hungary, where the employer's contribution is 50 per cent, and accidents are taken care of for 10 weeks.

1991 A. Rook et al. Hist. Addenbrooke's Hosp., Cambr. xv. 135 In 1847 the Secretary was asked to prepare a detailed return of such accidents admitted since 1844.

c. An unfortunate and unforeseen event involving damage or injury; spec. a collision or similar incident in which at least one of the parties involved is a vehicle.industrial, mining accident; automobile, motor, railway, road accident, etc.: see the first element.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > vehicular traffic > [noun] > collision or accident

car accident1834

street accident1835

accident1836

smash-up1856

car crash1877

car wreck1877

motor accident1910

wreck1912

crash1917

rollover1955

prang1959

shunt1959

1836 T. P. Thompson Let. 6 Aug. in Lett. to Constituents 99 The newspapers have reported two or three ‘appalling accidents’ already.

1853 W. Gregory Inorg. Chem. 156 The frightful accidents..so common in coal-mines.

1882 Daily News 10 July 3/6 Serious railway accident: thirty persons injured.

1902 Westm. Gaz. 29 Sept. 6/2 The cause of the accident was undoubtedly an error in the pointing.

1926 Hawarden (Iowa) Independent 28 Oct. 1/5 Shortly before the accident occurred Miss Johnson felt drowsy and rolled down a window and then as she began to feel better she rolled it up again.

1944 Sun (Baltimore) 6 Dec. 7–0 An accident on the Pennsylvania Turnpike near the New Stanton interchange.

1976 J. Lukasiewicz Railway Game 101 It was established that the slide detector fence had been out of service for several weeks prior to the accident.

2010 Wall St. Jrnl. 19 Jan. a1/3 I saw an accident..the other day where someone on an e-bike rushed through the intersection and plowed over someone on a regular bike.

d. colloquial. An incidence of incontinence, esp. on the part of a child or pet animal.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > defecation or urination > [noun] > accidental

accident1846

wetting1943

1846 Hilpert's Englisch-Deutsches u. Deutsch-Englisches Wörterbuch II. ii. 789/1 Das Kind hat sich verunstätigt, the child has dirtied itself, has had an accident.

1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 244 The wearing of india-rubber urinals, and other means of avoiding ‘accidents’.

1926 Nation 9 Jan. 517/2 Then a new child had, as Mabel calls it, ‘an accident’. She may have been afraid of asking to go out.

1959 A. Wesker Roots ii. i. 38 Jimmy Beales give him a real dowsin' down..'cause he had an accident.

1996 Independent 2 Apr. ii. 8/1 I found my daughter weeping. She'd had an accident and she was sopping wet.

2009 C. Millan & M. J. Peltier How to raise Perfect Dog iv. 118 My dog has never had an accident inside the house.

e. colloquial. An event which leads to an unplanned pregnancy, the pregnancy itself; a child conceived or born as a result of an unintended pregnancy. Cf. mistake n. d.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > other types of sexual activity or intercourse > [noun] > leading to unplanned pregnancy

accident1850

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > child > [noun] > child born of unplanned pregnancy

accident1921

the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > pregnancy or gestation > [noun] > accidental

mistake1957

accident1978

1850 S. C. Denison Crown Cases reserved for Consideration I. Pref. p. vi The prisoner told him, if he had an accident, or should happen to get a girl with child, if he came to her, she would put it away,..for that she had got more money by dead children than live ones.

1921 J. Burr Passionate Spectator iii. 18 His only child was an accident.

1932 D. L. Sayers Have his Carcase xxv. 322 Jenny Moggeridge's Baby Charles what was a accident what Mrs Moggeridge was looking after.

1967 M. Drabble Jerusalem the Golden v. 110 I had two, and then Gabriel was an accident.

1978 F. Weldon Praxis xx. 173 ‘You could always have an accident,’ observed Praxis, ‘and simply find yourself pregnant.’

1986 Sunday Tel. 16 Mar. 10/6 A survey in Australia showed that working women had fewer accidents..on the Pill.

2006 M. B. Frisch Quality of Life Therapy i. iii. 36/2 His father took sadistic pleasure in reminding him that he was an ‘accident’ and that his mother wanted to take him to an orphanage when he was born.

Phrases

P1. accident of birth: (a) the chance which determines the circumstances into which a person is born, esp. as a feature contributing to later life; (b) an attribute that a person inherits or acquires through birth.

ΚΠ

a1683 A. Sidney Disc. Govt. (1698) ii. 168 The prudence of choice surpasses the accidents of birth.

1730 Observ. Writings Craftsmen 25 She is sensible, that the one, Merit only can possess; whilst the rest are daily obtain'd by the Accident of Birth or Advantages of Alliance.

1837 B. Disraeli Venetia I. 4 With all the brilliant accidents of birth, and beauty, and fortune.

1859 J. W. Moulton Anal. Amer. Law 33 Those who by accident of birth are partially disqualified..as illegitimates, adulterines, and foundlings..from political rights.

1922 Woman's World (Chicago) Nov. 4/1 The accident of birth may make a milksop a millionaire, or a king.

1963 Ebony Sept. 50/2 Color—an accident of birth—..did not prevent him from becoming one of the most remarkable men of that or any other age.

2001 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 18 Oct. 24/4 Her comprehensive and forthright book describes how a not particularly sensitive or intelligent woman was exalted by accident of birth.

P2. more by accident than design (also judgement, etc.): largely as the result of chance, rather than deliberate intent or contrivance. Cf. by design at design n. Phrases 1.

ΚΠ

1661 F. Cradocke Wealth Discovered 4 A most incredible number of advantages and accommodations besides,..which is concluded fell in more by accident then design.

1780 London Mag. Dec. 563/1 He had taken the oath, he said, the preceding day, before the hour of four o'clock; but it was more by accident than care.

1863 A. Gladstone Man of Hour II. xvii. 257 It was more by accident than judgment that he took the right course, for he scampered on without taking note of numerous bye-roads on the one he travelled.

1898 L. F. Winslow Mad Humanity viii. 216 It would seem that he had the knife still in his possession, more by accident than by design, when he came to town.

1943 Atlanta Constit. 28 Mar. 12 a/5 This is the story of a young American fighter pilot, who in his first combat—and more by accident than design—shot down one of Germany's foremost aces.

2009 A. McGrath Heresy 11 Heresy is best seen as a form of Christian belief that, more by accident than design, ultimately ends up subverting, destabilizing, or even destroying the core of Christian faith.

P3. Proverb.

a. accidents will happen and variants: i.e. despite efforts taken to prevent them (sometimes consolatory).

ΚΠ

1709 W. Shiers Familiar Disc. conc. Mine-adventure iii. 41 Whatever the Loss be, no blame can be imputed to any; Accidents will happen, Ships are often Cast away, and Men may go aside; but what is all this to the matter, since there is nothing to be got by it.

1763 G. Colman Deuce is in Him i. 22 Accidents, accidents will happen—No less than seven brought into our infirmary yesterday, and ten into the hospital.

1850 M. T. Vidal Cabramatta, & Woodleigh Farm 254 It is only an accident,..don't distress yourself; you could not help it:—accidents will happen, you know.

1899 London Bicycle Club Gaz. 14 Dec. 116/2 Accidents do happen, but isn't it rather undignified having to do the finish of a ride on the top of an omnibus while your friend brings along the ‘busted’ machine in the rear?

1917 T. Ford Let. 25 Nov. in Cheer-up Lett. (1918) 118 Accidents can happen, of course, but they are so rare that no one ever thinks about them as at all likely.

1966 Rotarian Dec. 32/2 There were safeguards supposed to make it unthinkable for anyone to mislay a hydrogen bomb. But accidents happen.

2011 K. Day Million Miles from Boston xvii. 131 I showed Lauren's welt to Mrs. Dennis, who said, ‘Oh, accidents will happen.’

b. Also elaborated as accidents will happen in the best-regulated families and variants.

ΚΠ

1791 Lady's Mag. Nov. 573/2 And mistakes will happen in the best regulated families; I have taken my opera fan to church.]

1819 ‘P. Atall’ Hermit in Amer. i. 29 Accidents will happen in the best regulated families.

1850 C. Dickens David Copperfield xxviii. 291 ‘My dear friend Copperfield,’ said Mr. Micawber, ‘accidents will occur in the best regulated families; and in families not regulated by that pervading influence..of Woman.’

1939 W. S. Maugham Christmas Holiday x. 285 Accidents will happen in the best regulated families... If you find you've got anything the matter with you..go and see a doctor right away.

1991 T. Jones Seagulls in my Soup xiii. 227 ‘Accidents happen in the best-regulated families,’ I said stupidly, trying to keep bloody screaming murder out of my voice.

P4. a (also the) chapter of accidents: see chapter n. Phrases 4.

P5. without accident: safely, without incident or misfortune.

ΚΠ

1741 Hist. Don Alphonso Blas xv. 268 Don Juan and he set Sail from Cadiz in a light Frigate, and, without Accident, landed in Ireland, after a short and pleasant voyage.

1849 A. H. Layard Nineveh & Remains II. xiii. 91 As the lion was cracked in more than one place, considerable care was required in lowering and moving it. Both, however, were effected without accident.

1898 C. E. Mathews Ann. Mont Blanc xi. 222 In settled weather caravans went up and down, without accident and apparently without risk.

1935 Manch. Guardian 14 Feb. 8/4 It is as well to realise the drastic steps taken in the Italian cities to make the reform effectual without accident.

2009 J. Shattuck Perfect Life xi. 153 The landscaper who could not be trusted to mow the lawn without accident.

P6. to be no accident: (with that-clause) to be more than coincidence; to have a definite or specific cause.

ΚΠ

1842 H. Blunt Family Expos. Pentateuch: Exod.—Lev. 22 Was it accident that Moses rested himself at that particular well? Yet, surely, it was no accident that he became a keeper of sheep for forty years in the desert.

1882 Pop. Sci. Monthly Sept. 588 At the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War, King William and his chancellor and staff-officers were already gray-headed veterans, and it is no accident that they are all alive yet.

1920 H. Folks Human Costs of War x. 290 It may be no accident that in the atlas the name of this region is put down as Hunger Steppe.

1958 Times 10 Apr. 12 It is no accident that has made The Four Seasons the most performed of Vivaldi's works in these few years of his phoenix resurrection.

2007 V. Jewiss tr. R. Saviano Gomorrah 137 Women are always a part of clan power dynamics. It is no accident that the Secondigliano feud eliminated two women with a savagery usually reserved for bosses.

P7.

accident and emergency n. chiefly British and New Zealand (attributive) designating cases of acute injury or illness, or (now usually) a hospital department or ward that deals with such cases; (also) such a hospital department or ward; abbreviated A and E; cf. casualty n. Additions.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > healing > places for the sick or injured > [noun] > hospital or infirmary > hospital department > specific department

ambulatorium1834

emergency room1886

emergency department1889

recovery room1894

accident and emergency1898

outpatients1910

X-ray1916

casualty1927

abortorium1933

out1933

ER1955

A and E1966

emerg1978

1898 J. Hudson How to become Trained Nurse 200 Cases treated..4,368 accident and emergency.

1931 Science 4 Sept. 238/2 On the ground floor will be the examining and treatment rooms for surgery, including orthopedics, urology, physical therapy and accident and emergency units.

1967 Nursing Times 16 June 796 (title) Accident and emergency departments; sisters' views.

1995 Guardian 4 Apr. (Educ. section) 8/3 Davis stopped breathing for a minute. He was ambulanced to accident and emergency.

P8. an accident waiting to happen: a person or thing likely to cause trouble or harm; a potentially disastrous situation, esp. resulting from carelessness or neglect.

ΚΠ

1920 Ada (Okla.) Evening News 23 June 4/2 No amount of talk would induce us to register as an ‘independent’. An independent is an accident waiting to happen.

1954 N.Y. Times Mag. 5 Sept. 41/1 Frightening parents with specters of ‘accidents waiting to happen’ can be self-defeating.

1962 D. Rogers & M. Bucci Our Miss Brooks xii. 129 Friends and foes, say ‘There she goes, An accident waiting to happen!’

1985 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 10 Oct. c7/1 He has been knocked incessantly—over-rated, hopeless in his own end, an accident waiting to happen.

1991 Business (BNC) July 84 The insurer has so far agreed to pay £8 million in compensation to investors,..a nasty hit for one slip in its monitoring system. Unless, of course, it was an accident waiting to happen.

2011 B. Sharpsteen Docks iii. 43 The broken equipment..should have been fixed but instead stayed in service. It is an accident waiting to happen.

Compounds

C1.

a. General attributive, as accident insurance, accident rate, accident ward, etc.

ΚΠ

1825 Lancet 8 Jan. 32/1 There is now a patient in Accident Ward.

1854 Times 18 Sept. 3/6 (heading) Accident insurance.

1892 A. W. Pinero Magistrate iii. 135 Tell Sergeant Lugg to look over the Accident-Book, this morning's Hospital Returns.

1899 Westm. Gaz. 2 Mar. 8/3 Last year we paid about 5,000 accident claims.

1906 Daily Chron. 15 June 5/5 The accident rate was considered..low.

1964 Economist 4 Jan. 34/2 Motorists..with their accident-potentiality enhanced by alcohol.

2003 Jrnl. Risk & Insurance 70 652 Drivers and their insurance companies..have used the information gathered on accident claims for proprietary underwriting purposes.

accident compensation n.

ΚΠ

1845 Morning Chron. 13 June Lord Lyttleton's Accident Compensation Bill also passed through committee.

1850 Bankers' Mag. Sept. 551 Accident compensation, £2,903.

1970 Industr. & Labor Relations Rev. 24 43/2 These observers noted the basic principle of accident compensation was that its cost be borne by the industry as a whole.

2008 M. O'Brien Poverty, Policy & State ii. 36 Accident compensation is not means tested and the rate of payment is related to previous earnings.

accident-preventing adj.

ΚΠ

1858 N.Y. Herald 5 June There were also exhibited Joseph patent fuel saving diaphragm reflector and patent accident preventing switch.

1905 Daily Chron. 19 Sept. 4/4 Life-saving and accident-preventing machinery.

1998 G. Möller Ethics & Life of Faith ix. 301 Society should be impartial as regard which groups of individuals should benefit from different kinds of life-saving and accident-preventing measures.

accident prevention n.

ΚΠ

1878 York Herald 8 May 5/1 The logic of accident-prevention is leaving as little as possible to the individuals exposed to them.

1957 New Scientist 5 Dec. 45/1 Policy in different firms varies widely, and..some will combine the work of accident prevention with a maintenance job.

2009 W. Webster Universal Solution xiv. 111 Motoring organisations have proven that speed cameras have little impact on accident prevention.

accident-proof adj.

ΚΠ

1783 Brit. Mag. & Rev. 3 54/2 The white of the lily is not so adorning, All accident proof, and all scrutiny scorning.

1815 New Monthly Mag. Nov. 306/2 The coachman..attempts to pacify you by affirming that his carriage is built on some rigmaroll principle, or in other words, accident-proof.

1918 W. Hutchinson Doctor in War (1919) xxii. 231 There seemed to be no even approximately ‘accident-proof’ type of airman.

1993 Santa Fe New Mexican 23 Jan. a5/2 A shift in emphasis in the nuclear weapons program from developing new weapons to making the existing stockpile more accident-proof.

accident report n.

ΚΠ

1868 E. Miller Trussed Platforms for Railroad Cars 4 A few accident reports are added to show the strength and reliability of the improvements.

1966 Columbus (Nebraska) Daily Telegram 2 Mar. 14/2 The ICC accident report said the old break in the rail joint was aggravated when a support slipped from beneath the track.

2009 I. Spector Loud & Clear vii. 115 We were happy to see our squadron commander write in the accident report as expected: ‘Accident caused by force of nature.’

accident risk n.

ΚΠ

1856 Evening Star 10 Sept. 4/5 When we remember that accident risks are unlike those of ordinary life policies,..this company would seem to be doing a very profitable business.

1957 Public Health Rep. (U.S. Public Health Service) 72 625/2 Are such persons subjected to higher accident risks than persons not on these drugs?

2008 L. R. Stickland tr. Y. Hirose in L. R. Stickland tr. K. Ohbuchi Social Justice in Japan xiii. 283 This meant evaluation of the safety aspects intended by the plans, such as the alleviation of traffic congestion and accident risk.

accident scene n.

ΚΠ

1909 Portsmouth (New Hampsh.) Herald 15 Feb. 4/4 (heading) Jury visits accident scene.

1972 Boys' Life Nov. 70/2 With time so important, the avalanche dogs and their handlers are often flown to accident scenes in helicopters.

2009 D. Nikitas Long Division 121 The accident scene was cast with spinning blue cruiser lights, and it seemed like enough warning to convince her to get off the road.

accident site n.

ΚΠ

1923 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 14 Jan. (Auto Show ed.) 6 m/1 (heading) Safety signs placed on accident sites.

1969 Stanford Law Rev. 21 1782 The court saw many films and visited the accident site.

2011 L. Barzda Bittersweet House xxi. 111 After three red lights and another four-way stop, they finally were back on the thruway and sped to the accident site.

accident statistic n.

ΚΠ

1860 Rep. Inspectors of Factories: Nov.–Apr. 54 Having had occasion for another purpose to tabulate the accident statistics which happened within the borough of Leeds in 1859.

1962 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 20 Nov. 25/1 Install two lights on basement stairs. Don't be an accident statistic in 1963!

2008 G. Nicholson Lost Art of Walking vi. 149 A case can still be made,..using accident statistics, that walking in New York is a thrillingly dangerous activity.

accident victim n.

ΚΠ

1889 Alienist & Neurologist July 450 The accident-victims in England are more apt to show ‘litigation symptoms’ than in Germany.

1969 Daily Tel. 19 Aug. 20/1 On the crucial question of when doctors should be allowed to use the hearts of accident victims, the weight of opinion is that an ‘opting in’ principle should apply.

2010 D. Biro Lang. of Pain iii. 52 We feel terrible for the person with a blinding headache, we rush the accident victim to the hospital.

C2.

accident black spot n. a section of a road noted for accidents (cf. black spot n. 1); also in extended use.

ΚΠ

1936 Manch. Guardian 1 Jan. 11/1 (heading) Manchester's road accident ‘black spots’.]

1936 Times 1 Apr. 13/5 Sign posts were erected in New Bridge Street exhibiting the following notice:—‘Accident black spot; warning, pedestrians and drivers, take care.’

1978 K. Muckleroy Maritime Archaeol. ii. 56 As on the roads, there are accident blackspots at sea, and the basic factors which caused wrecks in the past are likely to have continued operating throughout history.

2006 J. Wilding Don't shoot Clowns iii. 59 The Baghdad group..painted the support pillars white for visibility on an unlit piece of road which had become an accident black spot.

accident damage n. (a) (in plural) the sum of money claimed or paid in compensation for an accident; (b) damage caused by an accident.

ΚΠ

1870 Le Follet June 41/2 Sneeringly inquiring if the directors meant to recoup themselves for their accident damages by indirect coups against the travellers who..broke their Draconic bye-laws.

1879 Year-bk. Educ. 436 An inexpensive Globe which can be placed beyond the reach of the scholars and the danger of accident damage.

1952 N.Y. Times 29 Mar. 14/2 Maintenance cost is smaller than the cost of a bill for accident damage.

2009 D. Nelken in D. M. Engel & M. W. McCann Fault Lines i. 28 Difficulties recovering accident damages in the United States can be seen as largely related to capitalist development.

accident inquiry n. an (official) inquiry held to determine the cause of an accident; the body conducting such an inquiry.

ΚΠ

1852 Racing Times 16 Nov. 365/2 Mr. Laing, M.P., explains the delay to have been occasioned by the officials being at Reigate on the accident inquiry.

1947 N.Y. Times 7 June 12/3 He has announced his intention of participating in the accident inquiries and moved to assure their being held with commendable promptness.

2005 B. M. Hutter in B. M. Hutter & M. Power Organizational Encounters with Risk iii. 84 Witnesses increasingly fearful of prosecution are refusing to give evidence to accident inquiries in case they incriminate themselves prior to a criminal trial.

accident investigation n. an (official) investigation into an accident, usually seeking to determine its cause; also as a mass noun.

ΚΠ

1868 G. F. Buller Let. 18 Nov. in Rep. Inspectors of Factories: May–Oct. (1869) 236 Government will also pay for the certificates; and would there be any harm in its doing so in the same way that it already pays for accident investigations?

1976 B. Jackson Flameout (1977) vii. 126 It was in the early days of accident investigation and we sort of overlapped our duties.

2010 S. Michaelides-Mateou & A. Mateou Flying in Face of Criminalization iii. 48 The analysis of the data once it has been gathered is perhaps the most difficult phase in an accident investigation as very few guidelines are offered by ICAO.

accident investigator n. a person whose job is to investigate accidents; cf. accident investigation n.

ΚΠ

1905 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) 3 June 12/3 (heading) Accident investigator has not yet arrived.

1961 Social Probl. 8 333/2 Accident reports are likely to be related to the temporal and locational distribution of accident investigators (e.g., a heavily patrolled highway will report more accidents than a lightly patrolled one).

2008 R. K. Wilcox Target: Patton xi. 176 If Patton had been suddenly thrown any distance in the car,..would not have extended his arms out to shield himself? Accident investigators say that is the natural reaction in such a situation.

accident neurosis n. [after German Unfallneurose (1891 or earlier)] now chiefly historical a neurosis caused or precipitated by an accident.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > neurosis > other forms of neurosis

neuromimesis1873

accident neurosis1896

suburban neurosis1938

Munchausen syndrome1951

Polle syndrome1977

chronic factitious disorder1980

fabricated or induced illness1994

1896 Boston Med. & Surg. Jrnl. 19 Mar. 298/1 Trauma has come, in the popular mind, to be identified with ‘accident’, a ‘traumatic neurosis’ means popularly an ‘accident neurosis’.

1961 Listener 28 Sept. 459/1 The term ‘accident neurosis’ refers to a disabling complaint of nervous origin: the symptoms are subjective, and there is usually no bodily sign of any emotional disturbance.

2003 Jrnl. Contemp. Hist. 38 201 First identified in 1889 as a syndrome whose diagnosis entitled patients to insurance benefits, traumatic (or accident) neurosis spread to almost epidemic proportions through German society, until being legislated out of existence in 1926.

accident record n. (a) a record of accidents in a particular place, period of time, etc.; (b) the past accidents associated with a person, organization, etc., regarded collectively.

ΚΠ

1872 N.Y. Tribune 12 Aug. 8/2 (heading) The accident record.

1873 Boston Daily Advertiser 17 Nov. The accident record on our American railroads makes a pretty long story, but certainly not longer in proportion than that of Great Britain.

1918 Safety Engin. Apr. 220/1 The abnormal conditions under which the coal mines were operated during 1917 are reflected in the accident records to the extent of an increase of 21 per cent in fatalities over 1916.

1964 Jrnl. Risk & Insurance 31 470/1 The car, the age of the driver, his accident record, and so forth.

2008 K. Goodhart Childcare 160 Parents need to sign the accident record when they come to collect their child.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	accident
释义	accidentn. Brit. /ˈaksᵻd(ə)nt/, U.S. /ˈæksədnt/ Forms: Middle English accidens (plural), Middle English–1500s accidente, Middle English–1500s accydente, Middle English–1600s accydent, Middle English– accident, 1500s acidant, 1500s–1600s accedent, 1600s accidentt, 1700s axcedent (nonstandard); Scottish pre-1700 accedent, pre-1700 accidente, pre-1700 acsedant, pre-1700 axedent, pre-1700 axsident, pre-1700 1700s– accident. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French accident; Latin accident-, accidēns. Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Middle French accident (French accident ) unfortunate occurrence or incident, vicissitude of fortune, indication, exterior sign, symptom (all 12th cent. in Anglo-Norman or Old French), chance occurrence (13th cent.), non-essential quality, (of a word) grammatical property, morphological variation (all 14th cent.) and its etymon classical Latin accident-, accidēns accidental happening, chance event, contingency, circumstance, (in grammar and rhetoric) attribute, in post-classical Latin also (in theology and philosophy) contingent attribute (3rd cent.), symptom (c400), grammatical property, morphological variation, adjective (5th cent.: see note), use as noun of present participle of accidere to fall, to happen < ac- ac- prefix + cadere to fall (see cadence n.). Compare Old Occitan accident , Catalan accident (13th cent.), Spanish accidente (13th cent.), Portuguese acidente (14th cent.), Italian accidente (13th cent.). Compare also post-classical Latin accidentia accidence n.¹The earliest instances of classical Latin accidēns in sense ‘attribute’ are in Quintilian, twice explicitly rendering ancient Greek συμβεβηκός as used (sometimes in contrast with οὐσία ‘substance’) in the rhetorical writings of Hermagoras and Theodorus of Gadara. The Greek word had been used in Aristotle (e.g. Metaphysics 1052^a18, 1052^a31) as a philosophical term denoting a contingent attribute, or an attribute necessarily resulting from the notion of something, but not entering into its definition; Christian Latin writers from Tertullian onwards use accidens in the former of these philosophical senses (more or less precisely, and with various refinements in scholastic writings), often in contrast with substantia substance n. Post-classical Latin accidens came to be used for ‘adjective’ because non-essential attributes are naturally indicated with adjectives (see Quintilian 8. 3. 70 and Priscian 2. 83. 18). Compare also accidence n.² and discussion at that entry. Compare the following attestations in an English context of Latin accidentia , use as noun of the neuter nominative plural of accidens , denoting a type of adjective, and in sense ‘grammatical properties’ (compare sense 3):OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 12 Sume [naman] synd accidentia, þæt synt gelimplice, þe gelimpað anum gehwylcum: niger coruus blac hrem, profundum mare deop sæ.OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 92 Ðes dæl, þæt is pronomen, hæfð syx accidentia, þæt synd [syx] gelimp: him belimpþ species, þæt is, hiw; persona, þæt is, had; and genvs, þæt is, cynn; and figvra, þæt is, anfeald hiw oððe gefeged; and nvmervs, þæt is, getel; and casvs gebigednyss. I. Something that is present but not necessarily so, and therefore non-essential. 1. a. Philosophy. In Aristotelian thought: a property or quality not essential to a substance or object; something that does not constitute an essential component, an attribute. Cf. substance n. 4a.In Scholastic Theology: spec. those non-essential, material qualities which remain unchanged in the sacramental bread and wine after transubstantiation (cf. element n. 3) (now historical). ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical proposition > [noun] > attribute > accident accident1395 accidencea1475 inseparable quality1551 show1560 adjunct1581 society > faith > worship > sacrament > communion > eucharistic doctrines > transubstantiation > [noun] > quality remaining after accident1395 Remonstr. against Romish Corruptions (Titus) (1851) 43 (MED) Greete doctouris of scole affermen generali that mannis vnderstondinge mai not comprehende an accident withouten suget. 1402 Reply Friar Daw Topias in T. Wright Polit. Poems & Songs (1861) II. 107 Thou berist us on honde that we seien ther is not Cristis bodye, but roundnesse and whitenesse and accident withouten suget. 1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 439/3 Whan the breed is conuerted into the precious body of our lord the accidentes abyden..whytnesse, roundenesse and sauoure. a1500 (c1380) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 466 (MED) It were ydolatrye to loute þus an accident, & no man durste seye til nou þat accident is goddis body. 1548 E. Gest Treat. againste Masse sig. Ciii Christes body is adjudged of no man to be accidented notwythstanding it is presented in the accidentes of the bread. 1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. i. xiii. f. 39^v He sticketh not to fayne newe accidentes in God. 1656 tr. T. Hobbes Elements Philos. ii. viii. 76 Wherefore I define an accident to be the Manner of our conception of Body. 1664 H. More Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity xiii. 45 But I demand, Whether is it less Idolatry to adore the Accidents of the Bread..or the Bread it self? 1701 tr. F. Burgersdijck Introd. Art Logick xvi. 57 Artificials are certain Accidents Concrete with their Substances. 1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued I. i. 17 Disposition, configuration, and motion are..accidents in ancient dialect, or modifications according to modern philosophers. 1846 J. S. Mill Syst. Logic (ed. 2) i. vii. §8. 181 Inseparable accidents are properties which are universal to the species but not necessary to it. 1863 E. V. Neale Analogy Thought & Nature 45 The accidents of a substance while they are effects of its substantiality, determine the character of the substance which causes them. 1901 Post-graduate 16 111 The accidents of a substance are very largely the product of its environment. 1975 G. Leff William of Ockham iii. ix. 604 The substance of the bread and wine ceases to exist and only the accidents remain. 2000 A. Hastings in A. Hastings et al. Oxf. Compan. Christian Thought 714/2 Medieval theologians believed that they could express what happens in terms of Aristotle's distinction between substance and accidents. b. Textual Criticism. = accidental n. 1b. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > copiousness > [noun] > action of padding > matter used as padding > matter not essential to author's meaning accident1942 accidental1942 1942 W. W. Greg Editorial Probl. Shakespeare p. 1 What may conveniently be called the ‘accidents’ of presentation, namely the spelling, punctuation, and other scribal or typographical details. 1967 J. D. Jump in C. Marlowe Tamburlaine the Great (new ed.) p. xxvi The readings of the octavos named are identical in substance, but not necessarily in the accidents of spelling, punctuation, etc. 2009 C. Ackerley in W. Van Mierlo Textual Scholarship & Material Bk. 109 She was obliged to observe..conventions of style and setting (textual accidents), yet time and again she had to make difficult decisions about disputed words and phrasing. 2. More generally: any accidental or non-essential accompaniment, quality, or property; an accessory, a non-essential. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > existence > extrinsicality or externality > [noun] > non-essentialness > that which is non-essential or accident accidentala1398 adventionc1475 accident1491 circumstance1599 under-accident1632 contingential1647 modality1647 adventitial1652 extrinsical1652 adventition1661 ornamental1774 inessential1778 non-essential1806 1491 in J. Cooper Cartularium Eccl. St. Nicholai Aberdonensis (1888) I. 258 His full compt..bath of properteis and accidentis pertening to tham. 1562 Certayn Serm. preached in Lincs. in H. Latimer 27 Serm. ii. f. 119 Thys is the chiefest poynte in theyr callyng, and not haukyng and huntyng, whiche is but an accidente. c1585 R. Browne Answere to Cartwright 35 Why then will he haue the Lordes discipline..to be but an accident or hangby to the Church? 1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. i. iii. ii. 49 Old age, from which it [sc. melancholy] is almost an inseparable accident. a1637 B. Jonson Eng. Gram. i. i. 35 in Wks. (1640) III Grammar is the art of true, and well speaking a Language: the writing is but an Accident. 1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World i. 6 We had also a third Design in our Voyage, tho' it may be esteem'd an Accident to the rest. 1815 J. Aster Ode to Fancy 22 Oft have I thought some bond of mighty strength Had linked me in a strange identity With outward accidents of Nature. 1843 C. Kingsley Lett. (1878) I. 104 Eternity is really his home, and Time but an accident to him. 1872 W. Minto Man. Eng. Prose Lit. Introd. 5 ‘Complexity’ in the grammatical sense, must be regarded as an accident of the period and not part of its essence. 1923 J. S. Huxley Ess. Biologist iv. 139 These differences may be biologically speaking non-significant, mere accidents of the primary difference. 1959 N. O. Brown Life against Death iii. viii. 99 Death is no external accident; death is an intrinsic part of life. 1997 P. Virilio in A. Kroker & M. Kroker Digital Delirium 42 Cyberspace is an accident of the real. 3. Grammar. In plural. The grammatical properties of a word (such as number, case, mood, tense) which are marked by morphological change; (also) the morphological changes or inflections which express these properties. Now chiefly historical (replaced by accidence n.² 1). ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > morphology > inflection > [noun] accidenta1504 declining1565 flexion1614 inflection1668 a1504 J. Holt Lac Puerorum (1508) iii. sig. E.vi Also pryce, tyme, Instrument, & other lyke Accidentes I calle case, gendre, nombre, persone, mode, and tense. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement Introd. sig. B3^v Nownes substantiues haue thre chefe accidentes, gender, nombre, and parson. 1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xv. 143 Not changing one word for another, by their accidents or cases. 1612 J. Brinsley Posing of Parts f. 1 The Accidents; that is, the things belonging to the parts of speech. 1774 Ld. Monboddo Of Origin & Progress of Lang. II. iii. xiii. 478 In like manner voices and numbers, and such like accidents of words, are formed. 1801 H. Lebedeff Gram. Pure & Mixed E. Indian Dial. 4 The Accidents of the noun are number, case, and gender. 1871 Bullions' Princ. Eng. Gram. (new ed.) 8 Parsing is the art of resolving a sentence into its elements or parts of speech, stating the accidents or grammatical properties of each word, and pointing out its relation to other words with which it is connected. 1952 P. Boehner Medieval Logic ii. i. 21 Ockham..further adds the common accidents of verbs, such as mood, person, tense, and number. 2002 A. Luhtala in P. Swiggers & A. Wouters Grammatical Theory & Philos. of Lang. in Antiq. 264 (note) There is evidence that Aristarchus regarded the noun as a declinable part of speech, distinguishing case, number and gender as accidents of the noun. †4. Heraldry. An additional point or mark that may be retained or omitted in a coat of arms. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1580 E. Knight Triall of Truth f. 12 The millers hackney vnagreeable with the true rules and accident of armes.] 1610 J. Guillim Display of Heraldrie i. iii. 7 I call those notes or markes, Accidents of Armes, that..may bee annexed vnto them, or taken from them, their substance still remaining. 1716 S. Kent Gram. Heraldry p. xii Those are called Accidents, which are not Necessary Parts, but such as being taken away or chang'd, the Substance of the Arms is still the same. 1724 A. Johnston Notitia Anglicana I. p. xli By the Accidents of Arms, he means their Tincture and Differences; which latter are either certain Additaments..or else, certain Badges of Disgrace. 1854 W. S. Evans Gram. Brit. Heraldry (ed. 2) 27 Accidents of Arms are those notes or marks which have no inherent quality or participation of the substance or essence of them; but may be annexed unto them, or taken from them, their substance still remaining. 1889 C. N. Elvin Dict. Heraldry 3/2 Accidents of Arms, a term sometimes met with which appears to mean nothing else in blazoning than the strictures and marks of difference.] II. Something that happens or occurs. 5. a. Something that happens by chance or without expectation; an event that is without apparent or deliberate cause. (In later use chiefly with modifying adjective, as fortunate, happy, historical.) ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > [noun] > chance or fortuitous event adventure?c1225 hapc1275 chancea1300 fortunea1375 accidenta1398 casualtya1513 to-fall1562 withfall1562 casual1566 casuality1574 stour1583 upcasta1616 contingency1620 haphazard1651 contingence1660 unaccountable1789 happen-so1816 happenchance1847 happenstance1857 a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 74 Now of somme accidentis þat falliþ [L. accidentibus que contingunt] aboute man, be kende & oþir wise..somwhat schal be Iseyde. a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iii. l. 918 This accident so petous was to here And ek so lyk a soth at pryme face. ?1483 W. Caxton tr. Caton iv. sig. kvi By somme accidentes & wantynges of nature thauncyent retournen and becomen as chyldren. 1555 H. Braham Inst. Gentleman sig. Gij This manne can litle skyl..to saue himself harmlesse from the perilous accidentes of this world, keping y^e wulf from the doore (as they cal it). 1581 B. Rich Don Simonides II. sig. Niv^v When as such a one at the instante is resident, who with eloquence may blazen out the myraculousnesse of the accident. a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) i. iii. 134 I spake..Of moouing accident of flood and field. 1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. vii. 266 The most memorable accidents I heard of in this County to have at any time befallen the Solipedous Animals. a1714 E. Freke Remembrances (2001) 80 One of my best houses in the parish, in which Jams Wallbutt lived and sold alle, by some accidentt of carlesness was in aboutt three howres time burnt downe to the ground. 1756 Monitor No. 40. 393 In a short time, by small accidents and unlikely instruments, he was more plunged and embroiled than ever. 1819 P. B. Shelley Cenci iii. i. 50 Some accident might interpose To rescue him from what is now most sure. 1872 C. Darwin in Life & Lett. (1887) III. 169 On this view, a Rotifer or Tardigrade is adapted to its humble conditions of life by a happy accident; and this I cannot believe. 1960 New Scientist 10 Nov. 1234/1 Most scientific discoveries are made by following up a fortunate accident or an unexpected observation. 2009 N.Y. Mag. 28 Sept. 28/1 Considering all the free-floating fury against our first black president, it seems a historical accident that Obama did not get Swiftboated in 2008. †b. An occurrence, incident, event. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > occurrence > [noun] > occurrence or event weird971 redeOE thingOE limpc1200 casea1250 tidingc1275 timinga1325 being?c1400 incident?1462 advenement1490 occurrent1523 accidenta1525 occurrence1539 affair1550 event1554 happening1561 événement1567 success1588 betide1590 circumstance1592 arrivage1603 eveniency1660 occurrency1671 betider1674 befalling1839 whet1849 intermezzo1851 transpiration1908 a1525 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1923) I. 299 Ane litill memoriale..with principale accidentis and notables of the sam. 1571 Queen Elizabeth I in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1827) 2nd Ser. III. 1 You maie well gesse, by the accidentes of the time, whie I have not made anie answer. 1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine ii. i. 63 The most memorable Accident in this place, was the Idolatry of the Israelites to Baal-peor. 1726 J. Swift Gulliver II. iv. xi. 177 Our Voyage passed without any considerable Accident. 1830 T. Oxley Celestial Planispheres iv. 192 Note down the times of three or four remarkable accidents or events, which have happened to the Native, and find by the Planispheres, or by the Ephemeris, what the true solar arc of Direction will be. 1860 Boston Med. & Surg. Jrnl. 25 Oct. 268 In the Dental Cosmos for March, Dr. Foster reports a remarkable accident of swallowing teeth. 6. a. Medicine. A symptom or sign of a disease or disorder. In later use also: a symptom or process which occurs in a disease but is not considered to be an essential part of it (cf. branch I.). Also figurative. Now historical. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > symptom > [noun] entacha1375 symptom1398 accidenta1400 showerc1400 prognostic?a1425 grudgingc1440 prognosticationc1475 grudge1562 symptomates1583 grutchinga1637 annotation1644 pathognomic1683 pathognomonic1704 prognosis1706 modality1911 society > communication > indication > [noun] > an indication or sign > symptom accidenta1400 withfall1562 symptom1611 a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 119 (MED) Euel accidentis..as constipacioun of þe wombe, or ellis þe flix of þe wombe. c1425 tr. J. Arderne Treat. Fistula (Sloane 6) (1910) 38 (MED) Þise bene þe accidentes of þam þat haþ bubon in þe lure: þai may ete and drynk and go, and somwhat sitte and somwhat slepe; þai be menely hungry and..þay may noȝt abstene þam fro þe priue. c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 127 (MED) Yuele accidentis whiche þat comeþ of þe brayn & of his pannycle ben..wepinge of þe oon yȝe Or ellis an hard scotomye. 1525 tr. H. von Brunschwig Noble Experyence Vertuous Handy Warke Surg. xxvi. sig. F.iv. (heading) Of the accydentes or fallynges of dyseases that cometh to the woundes. 1563 T. Gale Certaine Wks. Chirurg. iv. ii. f. 23 Thys Unguent..dothe..remoue diuers accidentes and sycknesses. 1622 F. Bacon Hist. Raigne Henry VII 9 There began..a disease then new: which of the Accidents and manner thereof they called the Sweating-sicknesse. 1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 612 O that torment..must secret passage find To th' inmost mind, There exercise all his fierce accidents . View more context for this quotation 1720 W. Gibson Farriers New Guide ii. xlviii. 210 We shall now consider the Farcin in its more advanced State, viz. when it becomes attended with ill Accidents. 1772 J. M. Adair Comm. Princ. & Pract. Physic v. ix. 493 This separation of a proximate cause, or disease, from its accidents or symptoms is unavoidable in nosological arrangement. 1862 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 19 July 59/1 Inflammation is an accident of phthisis. More than an accident, according to some, who would hold a measure of inflammation needed to help and hand it on from stage to stage. 1882 Med. News 13 May 528/1 Patients rarely applied for treatment until the occurrence of the secondary accidents of the disease [sc. Bright's disease], as polyuria, hemorrhage from the nose, diarrhœa, etc. 1917 W. A. Pusey Princ. & Pract. Dermatol. (ed. 3) 703 The lack of resistance which they show to syphilis and the frequent serious accidents which they suffer in the early years give me grounds for fear that they will at least not be more immune to the late accidents of syphilis than the patients treated with mercury and iodids alone. 1994 16th Cent. Jrnl. 25 80 Using a medical analogy,..Saavedra argues that medicine employs different cures according to the qualities and accidents of the disease and the nature of the patient. †b. An incidental appearance or effect; a phenomenon which may be observed but is not essential. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > [noun] > phenomenon accidentc1405 effectc1405 apparition1481 show1560 appearency1646 appearance1667 c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Clerk's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 607 Noon accident for noon aduersitee Was seyn in hir. ?1548 Ld. Berners tr. D. de San Pedro Castell of Loue sig. G.vii Ye shulde..torne the force of your natural wysdome against the accydent of your ire. 1592 G. Harvey Foure Lett. iii. 17 Some like accidents of dislike, for breuity I ouerslip: young bloud is hot. 1625 N. Carpenter Geogr. Delineated i. x. 220 The Inhabitants of a Right Spheare in respect of the heauens haue the same accidents. 1695 J. Woodward Ess. Nat. Hist. Earth 22 These Fossil Shells are attended with the ordinary Accidents of the marine ones, ex. gr. they sometimes grow to one another. 1744 J. Harris Three Treat. ii. ii. 66 Music may imitate the Glidings, Murmurings, Tossings, Roarings, and other Accidents of Water. 1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Radius Many of these radii are found remarkably compressed, bent, or distorted, which is an accident accounted peculiar to the fossils formed in animal moulds. 1816 R. Jameson Treat. External Characters Minerals (ed. 2) 171 Another accident, extremely common, is the manner in which grouped crystals are inserted into each other. c. An irregular feature in a landscape; an undulation. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > rising ground or eminence > [noun] > undulation accident1600 fold1601 roll1827 roller1849 1600 G. Best in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (new ed.) III. 48 All that whole Bay is more subiect to many blooming and smoothering heates,..then any other place in all Torrida Zona: and the cause thereof is some accidents in the land. 1777 T. Campbell Philos. Surv. S. Ireland vii. 65 Every town and tract of country, nay almost every hill in Ireland, is denominated, either from some..accident of the ground without, or from some mineral within. 1784 W. Mitford Hist. Greece I. v. 203 Lycurgus..directed the circular form for incampment; unless where a mountain, a river, or some other accident of the ground afforded security. 1843 G. P. R. James Forest Days I. x. 204 The ground was broken, and a thousand beautiful accidents diversified the landscape. 1878 in 19th Cent. 42 Taking advantage of every accident of the ground to conceal himself. 1911 A. Mitchell tr. H. Bergson Creative Evol. ii. 102 The road that leads to the town is obliged to follow the ups and downs of the hills; it adapts itself to the accidents of the ground. 1992 L. L. Hunt tr. B. P. Bodmer Armature of Conquest 41 The beauty of the rivers, coastline, bays, and other natural accidents of the terrain. 7. Unexpected or unforeseen circumstance; chance, fortune; (contextually) mischance. by accident [compare Middle French, French par accident (13th cent. in Old French), post-classical Latin per accidens (4th cent.: see per accidens adv.).] : by chance, accidentally; inadvertently. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > [noun] i-wonc1275 casec1300 adventurec1325 hap1340 accidencea1393 casualty1423 chefe1440 fortunityc1470 enchance?a1475 accidentc1485 chance1526 contingencec1530 lottery1570 casuality1574 chanceableness1581 contingency1623 fortuitiona1641 fortuitness1643 accidentalness1648 accidentality1651 fortuitousness1652 causelessnessa1660 temerity1678 fortuitya1747 spontaneity1751 felicity1809 accidentiality1814 c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Gouernaunce of Princis (1993) xxviii. 102 Men failis..be accidente. 1490 W. Caxton tr. Boke yf Eneydos xxviii. sig. Hij^v Hir deth naturalle oughte not to hauen comen yet of longe tyme, But by accydente and harde fortune. 1566 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure I. xlv. f. 248 I beleue Madame you be not ignorant that miseries and tribulations which come vpon people, fall not by accident or fortune, but by the prouidence or dispensacion of God. a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. vi. 278 Consider Sir, the chance of Warre, the day Was yours by accident . View more context for this quotation a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) I. 65 For Things said false, and never meant, Do oft prove true by accident. 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters iii. 141 The good or ill they do depend alike upon accident. 1775 S. Johnson Let. July (1992) II. 236 Nature probably has some part in human characters, and accident has some part. 1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe II. xiv. 257 The admiration which her charms excited, when accident threw her into the power of that unprincipled voluptuary. 1876 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest I. App. 628 William, whether by accident or by design, was not admitted. 1920 Amer. Woman Aug. 5/1 But when accident had acquainted him with the Fairmonts, aunt and niece, it had thrust him, so to speak, into a different sphere. 1963 A. Baraka Blues People vi. 66 The weight of just what social circumstance and accident came together to produce the America that the Negro was a part of, had to make itself part of his life as well. 2002 New Scientist 24 Aug. 84/4 The process by which Madeira is deliberately allowed to oxidise, known as estufagem, was discovered by accident. 8. a. In generalized use: an unfortunate and typically unforeseen event, a disaster, a mishap; (also) unfortunate eventuality. (In early use not always distinguishable from sense 5a.) ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > adversity > calamity or misfortune > [noun] > misfortune or ill-luck > instance of misfortune or ill-luck > a mishap or unlucky accident mistideOE unhapc1230 chancea1300 mischancec1325 mishapa1387 accident?1490 casualtya1513 shrewd turn1565 casuality1574 misaccident1620 mishanter1754 contretemps1809 bust-up1841 pratfall1941 snafu1943 ?1490 tr. Gouernayle of Helthe sig. Aiiij Ye shall nede no leche oute take accydentes of batayll and suche other. 1570 T. North tr. A. F. Doni Morall Philos. i. f. 13 But in the ende ouertaken by some accident, as warre, treason, poyson, or mans force, he falleth into deathes lappe. 1602 E. Hayes in J. Brereton Briefe Relation Discouerie Virginia 20 Our intent..[is] not to trust them too far, but to prouide against all accidents. 1688 J. Dryden Britannia Rediviva 8 No future Ills, nor Accidents appear To sully and pollute the Sacred Infant's Year. 1702 Eng. Theophrastus 230 The wisest councils may be discomposed by the smallest accidents. 1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §117 In the progress of the work we should lie so widely open to accidents. 1829 W. S. Landor Imaginary Conversat. 2nd Ser. I. xv. 473 Him I would call the powerful one, who..turns to good account the worst accidents of his fortune. 1893 Manufacturer & Builder Nov. 252/3 It insured steam boilers, machinery of every description, employers' liability, public liability and general accidents. 1904 Booklovers' Mag. May 663 This special train..is a relief train, ready to respond to any call for aid in case of accident. 1959 J. Gill Council of Florence iv. 89 There were accidents of various sorts, the breaking of booms, the fraying of stays, and a collision that damaged the oarage of one vessel. 2010 Daily Tel. 11 Mar. 20/2 The accident caused one ton of helium to leak and resulted in a series of ‘quenches’, or loss of conductivity, and a £24 million repair bill. b. A person injured as the result of a mishap. ΚΠ 1747 Gen. Advertiser 21 May Patients are admitted on a Letter of Recommendation from a Governor or Contributor... All Accidents are admitted without Recommendation. 1823 Lancet 19 Oct. 82/1 When you have accidents brought to you that will require a long time for their recovery, you must be exceedingly careful how you take away blood from the general system. 1856 C. Dickens Little Dorrit (1857) i. xiii. 116 ‘An accident going to the Hospital?’ he asked an old man beside him, who stood shaking his head, inviting conversation. 1916 I. M. Rubinow Standards of Health Insurance x. 159 In Hungary, where the employer's contribution is 50 per cent, and accidents are taken care of for 10 weeks. 1991 A. Rook et al. Hist. Addenbrooke's Hosp., Cambr. xv. 135 In 1847 the Secretary was asked to prepare a detailed return of such accidents admitted since 1844. c. An unfortunate and unforeseen event involving damage or injury; spec. a collision or similar incident in which at least one of the parties involved is a vehicle.industrial, mining accident; automobile, motor, railway, road accident, etc.: see the first element. ΘΚΠ society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > vehicular traffic > [noun] > collision or accident car accident1834 street accident1835 accident1836 smash-up1856 car crash1877 car wreck1877 motor accident1910 wreck1912 crash1917 rollover1955 prang1959 shunt1959 1836 T. P. Thompson Let. 6 Aug. in Lett. to Constituents 99 The newspapers have reported two or three ‘appalling accidents’ already. 1853 W. Gregory Inorg. Chem. 156 The frightful accidents..so common in coal-mines. 1882 Daily News 10 July 3/6 Serious railway accident: thirty persons injured. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 29 Sept. 6/2 The cause of the accident was undoubtedly an error in the pointing. 1926 Hawarden (Iowa) Independent 28 Oct. 1/5 Shortly before the accident occurred Miss Johnson felt drowsy and rolled down a window and then as she began to feel better she rolled it up again. 1944 Sun (Baltimore) 6 Dec. 7–0 An accident on the Pennsylvania Turnpike near the New Stanton interchange. 1976 J. Lukasiewicz Railway Game 101 It was established that the slide detector fence had been out of service for several weeks prior to the accident. 2010 Wall St. Jrnl. 19 Jan. a1/3 I saw an accident..the other day where someone on an e-bike rushed through the intersection and plowed over someone on a regular bike. d. colloquial. An incidence of incontinence, esp. on the part of a child or pet animal. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > defecation or urination > [noun] > accidental accident1846 wetting1943 1846 Hilpert's Englisch-Deutsches u. Deutsch-Englisches Wörterbuch II. ii. 789/1 Das Kind hat sich verunstätigt, the child has dirtied itself, has had an accident. 1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 244 The wearing of india-rubber urinals, and other means of avoiding ‘accidents’. 1926 Nation 9 Jan. 517/2 Then a new child had, as Mabel calls it, ‘an accident’. She may have been afraid of asking to go out. 1959 A. Wesker Roots ii. i. 38 Jimmy Beales give him a real dowsin' down..'cause he had an accident. 1996 Independent 2 Apr. ii. 8/1 I found my daughter weeping. She'd had an accident and she was sopping wet. 2009 C. Millan & M. J. Peltier How to raise Perfect Dog iv. 118 My dog has never had an accident inside the house. e. colloquial. An event which leads to an unplanned pregnancy, the pregnancy itself; a child conceived or born as a result of an unintended pregnancy. Cf. mistake n. d. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > other types of sexual activity or intercourse > [noun] > leading to unplanned pregnancy accident1850 society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > child > [noun] > child born of unplanned pregnancy accident1921 the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > pregnancy or gestation > [noun] > accidental mistake1957 accident1978 1850 S. C. Denison Crown Cases reserved for Consideration I. Pref. p. vi The prisoner told him, if he had an accident, or should happen to get a girl with child, if he came to her, she would put it away,..for that she had got more money by dead children than live ones. 1921 J. Burr Passionate Spectator iii. 18 His only child was an accident. 1932 D. L. Sayers Have his Carcase xxv. 322 Jenny Moggeridge's Baby Charles what was a accident what Mrs Moggeridge was looking after. 1967 M. Drabble Jerusalem the Golden v. 110 I had two, and then Gabriel was an accident. 1978 F. Weldon Praxis xx. 173 ‘You could always have an accident,’ observed Praxis, ‘and simply find yourself pregnant.’ 1986 Sunday Tel. 16 Mar. 10/6 A survey in Australia showed that working women had fewer accidents..on the Pill. 2006 M. B. Frisch Quality of Life Therapy i. iii. 36/2 His father took sadistic pleasure in reminding him that he was an ‘accident’ and that his mother wanted to take him to an orphanage when he was born. Phrases P1. accident of birth: (a) the chance which determines the circumstances into which a person is born, esp. as a feature contributing to later life; (b) an attribute that a person inherits or acquires through birth. ΚΠ a1683 A. Sidney Disc. Govt. (1698) ii. 168 The prudence of choice surpasses the accidents of birth. 1730 Observ. Writings Craftsmen 25 She is sensible, that the one, Merit only can possess; whilst the rest are daily obtain'd by the Accident of Birth or Advantages of Alliance. 1837 B. Disraeli Venetia I. 4 With all the brilliant accidents of birth, and beauty, and fortune. 1859 J. W. Moulton Anal. Amer. Law 33 Those who by accident of birth are partially disqualified..as illegitimates, adulterines, and foundlings..from political rights. 1922 Woman's World (Chicago) Nov. 4/1 The accident of birth may make a milksop a millionaire, or a king. 1963 Ebony Sept. 50/2 Color—an accident of birth—..did not prevent him from becoming one of the most remarkable men of that or any other age. 2001 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 18 Oct. 24/4 Her comprehensive and forthright book describes how a not particularly sensitive or intelligent woman was exalted by accident of birth. P2. more by accident than design (also judgement, etc.): largely as the result of chance, rather than deliberate intent or contrivance. Cf. by design at design n. Phrases 1. ΚΠ 1661 F. Cradocke Wealth Discovered 4 A most incredible number of advantages and accommodations besides,..which is concluded fell in more by accident then design. 1780 London Mag. Dec. 563/1 He had taken the oath, he said, the preceding day, before the hour of four o'clock; but it was more by accident than care. 1863 A. Gladstone Man of Hour II. xvii. 257 It was more by accident than judgment that he took the right course, for he scampered on without taking note of numerous bye-roads on the one he travelled. 1898 L. F. Winslow Mad Humanity viii. 216 It would seem that he had the knife still in his possession, more by accident than by design, when he came to town. 1943 Atlanta Constit. 28 Mar. 12 a/5 This is the story of a young American fighter pilot, who in his first combat—and more by accident than design—shot down one of Germany's foremost aces. 2009 A. McGrath Heresy 11 Heresy is best seen as a form of Christian belief that, more by accident than design, ultimately ends up subverting, destabilizing, or even destroying the core of Christian faith. P3. Proverb. a. accidents will happen and variants: i.e. despite efforts taken to prevent them (sometimes consolatory). ΚΠ 1709 W. Shiers Familiar Disc. conc. Mine-adventure iii. 41 Whatever the Loss be, no blame can be imputed to any; Accidents will happen, Ships are often Cast away, and Men may go aside; but what is all this to the matter, since there is nothing to be got by it. 1763 G. Colman Deuce is in Him i. 22 Accidents, accidents will happen—No less than seven brought into our infirmary yesterday, and ten into the hospital. 1850 M. T. Vidal Cabramatta, & Woodleigh Farm 254 It is only an accident,..don't distress yourself; you could not help it:—accidents will happen, you know. 1899 London Bicycle Club Gaz. 14 Dec. 116/2 Accidents do happen, but isn't it rather undignified having to do the finish of a ride on the top of an omnibus while your friend brings along the ‘busted’ machine in the rear? 1917 T. Ford Let. 25 Nov. in Cheer-up Lett. (1918) 118 Accidents can happen, of course, but they are so rare that no one ever thinks about them as at all likely. 1966 Rotarian Dec. 32/2 There were safeguards supposed to make it unthinkable for anyone to mislay a hydrogen bomb. But accidents happen. 2011 K. Day Million Miles from Boston xvii. 131 I showed Lauren's welt to Mrs. Dennis, who said, ‘Oh, accidents will happen.’ b. Also elaborated as accidents will happen in the best-regulated families and variants. ΚΠ 1791 Lady's Mag. Nov. 573/2 And mistakes will happen in the best regulated families; I have taken my opera fan to church.] 1819 ‘P. Atall’ Hermit in Amer. i. 29 Accidents will happen in the best regulated families. 1850 C. Dickens David Copperfield xxviii. 291 ‘My dear friend Copperfield,’ said Mr. Micawber, ‘accidents will occur in the best regulated families; and in families not regulated by that pervading influence..of Woman.’ 1939 W. S. Maugham Christmas Holiday x. 285 Accidents will happen in the best regulated families... If you find you've got anything the matter with you..go and see a doctor right away. 1991 T. Jones Seagulls in my Soup xiii. 227 ‘Accidents happen in the best-regulated families,’ I said stupidly, trying to keep bloody screaming murder out of my voice. P4. a (also the) chapter of accidents: see chapter n. Phrases 4. P5. without accident: safely, without incident or misfortune. ΚΠ 1741 Hist. Don Alphonso Blas xv. 268 Don Juan and he set Sail from Cadiz in a light Frigate, and, without Accident, landed in Ireland, after a short and pleasant voyage. 1849 A. H. Layard Nineveh & Remains II. xiii. 91 As the lion was cracked in more than one place, considerable care was required in lowering and moving it. Both, however, were effected without accident. 1898 C. E. Mathews Ann. Mont Blanc xi. 222 In settled weather caravans went up and down, without accident and apparently without risk. 1935 Manch. Guardian 14 Feb. 8/4 It is as well to realise the drastic steps taken in the Italian cities to make the reform effectual without accident. 2009 J. Shattuck Perfect Life xi. 153 The landscaper who could not be trusted to mow the lawn without accident. P6. to be no accident: (with that-clause) to be more than coincidence; to have a definite or specific cause. ΚΠ 1842 H. Blunt Family Expos. Pentateuch: Exod.—Lev. 22 Was it accident that Moses rested himself at that particular well? Yet, surely, it was no accident that he became a keeper of sheep for forty years in the desert. 1882 Pop. Sci. Monthly Sept. 588 At the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War, King William and his chancellor and staff-officers were already gray-headed veterans, and it is no accident that they are all alive yet. 1920 H. Folks Human Costs of War x. 290 It may be no accident that in the atlas the name of this region is put down as Hunger Steppe. 1958 Times 10 Apr. 12 It is no accident that has made The Four Seasons the most performed of Vivaldi's works in these few years of his phoenix resurrection. 2007 V. Jewiss tr. R. Saviano Gomorrah 137 Women are always a part of clan power dynamics. It is no accident that the Secondigliano feud eliminated two women with a savagery usually reserved for bosses. P7. accident and emergency n. chiefly British and New Zealand (attributive) designating cases of acute injury or illness, or (now usually) a hospital department or ward that deals with such cases; (also) such a hospital department or ward; abbreviated A and E; cf. casualty n. Additions. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > healing > places for the sick or injured > [noun] > hospital or infirmary > hospital department > specific department ambulatorium1834 emergency room1886 emergency department1889 recovery room1894 accident and emergency1898 outpatients1910 X-ray1916 casualty1927 abortorium1933 out1933 ER1955 A and E1966 emerg1978 1898 J. Hudson How to become Trained Nurse 200 Cases treated..4,368 accident and emergency. 1931 Science 4 Sept. 238/2 On the ground floor will be the examining and treatment rooms for surgery, including orthopedics, urology, physical therapy and accident and emergency units. 1967 Nursing Times 16 June 796 (title) Accident and emergency departments; sisters' views. 1995 Guardian 4 Apr. (Educ. section) 8/3 Davis stopped breathing for a minute. He was ambulanced to accident and emergency. P8. an accident waiting to happen: a person or thing likely to cause trouble or harm; a potentially disastrous situation, esp. resulting from carelessness or neglect. ΚΠ 1920 Ada (Okla.) Evening News 23 June 4/2 No amount of talk would induce us to register as an ‘independent’. An independent is an accident waiting to happen. 1954 N.Y. Times Mag. 5 Sept. 41/1 Frightening parents with specters of ‘accidents waiting to happen’ can be self-defeating. 1962 D. Rogers & M. Bucci Our Miss Brooks xii. 129 Friends and foes, say ‘There she goes, An accident waiting to happen!’ 1985 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 10 Oct. c7/1 He has been knocked incessantly—over-rated, hopeless in his own end, an accident waiting to happen. 1991 Business (BNC) July 84 The insurer has so far agreed to pay £8 million in compensation to investors,..a nasty hit for one slip in its monitoring system. Unless, of course, it was an accident waiting to happen. 2011 B. Sharpsteen Docks iii. 43 The broken equipment..should have been fixed but instead stayed in service. It is an accident waiting to happen. Compounds C1. a. General attributive, as accident insurance, accident rate, accident ward, etc. ΚΠ 1825 Lancet 8 Jan. 32/1 There is now a patient in Accident Ward. 1854 Times 18 Sept. 3/6 (heading) Accident insurance. 1892 A. W. Pinero Magistrate iii. 135 Tell Sergeant Lugg to look over the Accident-Book, this morning's Hospital Returns. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 2 Mar. 8/3 Last year we paid about 5,000 accident claims. 1906 Daily Chron. 15 June 5/5 The accident rate was considered..low. 1964 Economist 4 Jan. 34/2 Motorists..with their accident-potentiality enhanced by alcohol. 2003 Jrnl. Risk & Insurance 70 652 Drivers and their insurance companies..have used the information gathered on accident claims for proprietary underwriting purposes. b. accident compensation n. ΚΠ 1845 Morning Chron. 13 June Lord Lyttleton's Accident Compensation Bill also passed through committee. 1850 Bankers' Mag. Sept. 551 Accident compensation, £2,903. 1970 Industr. & Labor Relations Rev. 24 43/2 These observers noted the basic principle of accident compensation was that its cost be borne by the industry as a whole. 2008 M. O'Brien Poverty, Policy & State ii. 36 Accident compensation is not means tested and the rate of payment is related to previous earnings. accident-preventing adj. ΚΠ 1858 N.Y. Herald 5 June There were also exhibited Joseph patent fuel saving diaphragm reflector and patent accident preventing switch. 1905 Daily Chron. 19 Sept. 4/4 Life-saving and accident-preventing machinery. 1998 G. Möller Ethics & Life of Faith ix. 301 Society should be impartial as regard which groups of individuals should benefit from different kinds of life-saving and accident-preventing measures. accident prevention n. ΚΠ 1878 York Herald 8 May 5/1 The logic of accident-prevention is leaving as little as possible to the individuals exposed to them. 1957 New Scientist 5 Dec. 45/1 Policy in different firms varies widely, and..some will combine the work of accident prevention with a maintenance job. 2009 W. Webster Universal Solution xiv. 111 Motoring organisations have proven that speed cameras have little impact on accident prevention. accident-proof adj. ΚΠ 1783 Brit. Mag. & Rev. 3 54/2 The white of the lily is not so adorning, All accident proof, and all scrutiny scorning. 1815 New Monthly Mag. Nov. 306/2 The coachman..attempts to pacify you by affirming that his carriage is built on some rigmaroll principle, or in other words, accident-proof. 1918 W. Hutchinson Doctor in War (1919) xxii. 231 There seemed to be no even approximately ‘accident-proof’ type of airman. 1993 Santa Fe New Mexican 23 Jan. a5/2 A shift in emphasis in the nuclear weapons program from developing new weapons to making the existing stockpile more accident-proof. accident report n. ΚΠ 1868 E. Miller Trussed Platforms for Railroad Cars 4 A few accident reports are added to show the strength and reliability of the improvements. 1966 Columbus (Nebraska) Daily Telegram 2 Mar. 14/2 The ICC accident report said the old break in the rail joint was aggravated when a support slipped from beneath the track. 2009 I. Spector Loud & Clear vii. 115 We were happy to see our squadron commander write in the accident report as expected: ‘Accident caused by force of nature.’ accident risk n. ΚΠ 1856 Evening Star 10 Sept. 4/5 When we remember that accident risks are unlike those of ordinary life policies,..this company would seem to be doing a very profitable business. 1957 Public Health Rep. (U.S. Public Health Service) 72 625/2 Are such persons subjected to higher accident risks than persons not on these drugs? 2008 L. R. Stickland tr. Y. Hirose in L. R. Stickland tr. K. Ohbuchi Social Justice in Japan xiii. 283 This meant evaluation of the safety aspects intended by the plans, such as the alleviation of traffic congestion and accident risk. accident scene n. ΚΠ 1909 Portsmouth (New Hampsh.) Herald 15 Feb. 4/4 (heading) Jury visits accident scene. 1972 Boys' Life Nov. 70/2 With time so important, the avalanche dogs and their handlers are often flown to accident scenes in helicopters. 2009 D. Nikitas Long Division 121 The accident scene was cast with spinning blue cruiser lights, and it seemed like enough warning to convince her to get off the road. accident site n. ΚΠ 1923 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 14 Jan. (Auto Show ed.) 6 m/1 (heading) Safety signs placed on accident sites. 1969 Stanford Law Rev. 21 1782 The court saw many films and visited the accident site. 2011 L. Barzda Bittersweet House xxi. 111 After three red lights and another four-way stop, they finally were back on the thruway and sped to the accident site. accident statistic n. ΚΠ 1860 Rep. Inspectors of Factories: Nov.–Apr. 54 Having had occasion for another purpose to tabulate the accident statistics which happened within the borough of Leeds in 1859. 1962 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 20 Nov. 25/1 Install two lights on basement stairs. Don't be an accident statistic in 1963! 2008 G. Nicholson Lost Art of Walking vi. 149 A case can still be made,..using accident statistics, that walking in New York is a thrillingly dangerous activity. accident victim n. ΚΠ 1889 Alienist & Neurologist July 450 The accident-victims in England are more apt to show ‘litigation symptoms’ than in Germany. 1969 Daily Tel. 19 Aug. 20/1 On the crucial question of when doctors should be allowed to use the hearts of accident victims, the weight of opinion is that an ‘opting in’ principle should apply. 2010 D. Biro Lang. of Pain iii. 52 We feel terrible for the person with a blinding headache, we rush the accident victim to the hospital. C2. accident black spot n. a section of a road noted for accidents (cf. black spot n. 1); also in extended use. ΚΠ 1936 Manch. Guardian 1 Jan. 11/1 (heading) Manchester's road accident ‘black spots’.] 1936 Times 1 Apr. 13/5 Sign posts were erected in New Bridge Street exhibiting the following notice:—‘Accident black spot; warning, pedestrians and drivers, take care.’ 1978 K. Muckleroy Maritime Archaeol. ii. 56 As on the roads, there are accident blackspots at sea, and the basic factors which caused wrecks in the past are likely to have continued operating throughout history. 2006 J. Wilding Don't shoot Clowns iii. 59 The Baghdad group..painted the support pillars white for visibility on an unlit piece of road which had become an accident black spot. accident damage n. (a) (in plural) the sum of money claimed or paid in compensation for an accident; (b) damage caused by an accident. ΚΠ 1870 Le Follet June 41/2 Sneeringly inquiring if the directors meant to recoup themselves for their accident damages by indirect coups against the travellers who..broke their Draconic bye-laws. 1879 Year-bk. Educ. 436 An inexpensive Globe which can be placed beyond the reach of the scholars and the danger of accident damage. 1952 N.Y. Times 29 Mar. 14/2 Maintenance cost is smaller than the cost of a bill for accident damage. 2009 D. Nelken in D. M. Engel & M. W. McCann Fault Lines i. 28 Difficulties recovering accident damages in the United States can be seen as largely related to capitalist development. accident inquiry n. an (official) inquiry held to determine the cause of an accident; the body conducting such an inquiry. ΚΠ 1852 Racing Times 16 Nov. 365/2 Mr. Laing, M.P., explains the delay to have been occasioned by the officials being at Reigate on the accident inquiry. 1947 N.Y. Times 7 June 12/3 He has announced his intention of participating in the accident inquiries and moved to assure their being held with commendable promptness. 2005 B. M. Hutter in B. M. Hutter & M. Power Organizational Encounters with Risk iii. 84 Witnesses increasingly fearful of prosecution are refusing to give evidence to accident inquiries in case they incriminate themselves prior to a criminal trial. accident investigation n. an (official) investigation into an accident, usually seeking to determine its cause; also as a mass noun. ΚΠ 1868 G. F. Buller Let. 18 Nov. in Rep. Inspectors of Factories: May–Oct. (1869) 236 Government will also pay for the certificates; and would there be any harm in its doing so in the same way that it already pays for accident investigations? 1976 B. Jackson Flameout (1977) vii. 126 It was in the early days of accident investigation and we sort of overlapped our duties. 2010 S. Michaelides-Mateou & A. Mateou Flying in Face of Criminalization iii. 48 The analysis of the data once it has been gathered is perhaps the most difficult phase in an accident investigation as very few guidelines are offered by ICAO. accident investigator n. a person whose job is to investigate accidents; cf. accident investigation n. ΚΠ 1905 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) 3 June 12/3 (heading) Accident investigator has not yet arrived. 1961 Social Probl. 8 333/2 Accident reports are likely to be related to the temporal and locational distribution of accident investigators (e.g., a heavily patrolled highway will report more accidents than a lightly patrolled one). 2008 R. K. Wilcox Target: Patton xi. 176 If Patton had been suddenly thrown any distance in the car,..would not have extended his arms out to shield himself? Accident investigators say that is the natural reaction in such a situation. accident neurosis n. [after German Unfallneurose (1891 or earlier)] now chiefly historical a neurosis caused or precipitated by an accident. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > neurosis > other forms of neurosis neuromimesis1873 accident neurosis1896 suburban neurosis1938 Munchausen syndrome1951 Polle syndrome1977 chronic factitious disorder1980 fabricated or induced illness1994 1896 Boston Med. & Surg. Jrnl. 19 Mar. 298/1 Trauma has come, in the popular mind, to be identified with ‘accident’, a ‘traumatic neurosis’ means popularly an ‘accident neurosis’. 1961 Listener 28 Sept. 459/1 The term ‘accident neurosis’ refers to a disabling complaint of nervous origin: the symptoms are subjective, and there is usually no bodily sign of any emotional disturbance. 2003 Jrnl. Contemp. Hist. 38 201 First identified in 1889 as a syndrome whose diagnosis entitled patients to insurance benefits, traumatic (or accident) neurosis spread to almost epidemic proportions through German society, until being legislated out of existence in 1926. accident record n. (a) a record of accidents in a particular place, period of time, etc.; (b) the past accidents associated with a person, organization, etc., regarded collectively. ΚΠ 1872 N.Y. Tribune 12 Aug. 8/2 (heading) The accident record. 1873 Boston Daily Advertiser 17 Nov. The accident record on our American railroads makes a pretty long story, but certainly not longer in proportion than that of Great Britain. 1918 Safety Engin. Apr. 220/1 The abnormal conditions under which the coal mines were operated during 1917 are reflected in the accident records to the extent of an increase of 21 per cent in fatalities over 1916. 1964 Jrnl. Risk & Insurance 31 470/1 The car, the age of the driver, his accident record, and so forth. 2008 K. Goodhart Childcare 160 Parents need to sign the accident record when they come to collect their child. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022). accidentadj. Brit. /ˈaksᵻd(ə)nt/, U.S. /ˈæksədnt/ Forms: late Middle English– accident, 1500s accidente, 1500s accydent. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French accident; Latin accident-, accidens. Etymology: < Middle French accident (in medicine) following in the course of an illness (14th cent.), non-essential (15th cent.), and its etymon classical Latin accident-, accidens accidental, non-essential, in post-classical Latin also happening by chance (4th cent.), use as adjective of present participle of accidere (see accident n.). Compare earlier accidental adj. Now rare. That is accidental; contingent, incidental.Rare after early 17th cent.; the later examples are in the contexts of philosophy and theology. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > [adjective] > accidental or that is by chance accidentc1450 accidental1502 the world > relative properties > relationship > accompaniment > [adjective] > incidental accidentc1450 contingent1747 c1450 tr. Secreta Secret. (Royal) 29 In two thingis and maners deyeth a man, that on maner is naturalle, as age..that othir is bi accident maner, as bi seeknes..or hurtyng of egge tole. 1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1845) xxvii. xx. 123 Desteny is a thyng accydent. 1585 in W. Fraser Scotts of Buccleuch (1878) II. 240 The accident slaughter. 1610 J. Healey tr. St. Augustine Citie of God xi. iv. 410 They can neuer shew how that misery befalleth it anew, that was neuer accident to it before. 1625 J. Eliot Acct. in H. Hulme Sir John Eliot & Vice-Admiralty Devon 18 in Camden Misc. (1940) XVII Item to Richard Randall of Dartmouth for keeping of Hyatt's companye and shippe and other charges thereon accident. 1847 C. L. Cornish tr. St. Augustine in 17 Short Treat. St. Augustine xx. 32 There is not any thing such in the Substance of God, as if in It Substance were one thing, and that which is Accident to Substance were another thing. 1984 J. F. Bennett Study Spinoza's Ethics iii. 67 If we take this [sc. the proposition that a substance is prior in nature to its states] to entail that any state of a substance is accident to it,..we get the following argument. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021). < n.1395adj.c1450
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accidentn.

Phrases

Compounds

accidentadj.