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- pronunciation:
- aek
sih
d
 nt
- phrases:
- by accident
- features:
- Word Combinations (noun), Word History, Word Explorer, Word Parts
| part of speech: |
noun |
| definition 1: |
unknown or unplanned causes of events; chance.
We met each other by accident, not by design.- synonyms:
- chance, fortuity, happenstance, luck
- antonyms:
- intent, plan
- similar words:
- fate, fluke, fortune, hap, haphazard, hazard, serendipity
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| definition 2: |
an event that occurs without human planning or intent.
We didn't know about the contest, so winning the prize was just an accident.- similar words:
- coincidence
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| definition 3: |
an undesirable or harmful event.
He was killed in a car accident.
- synonyms:
- mishap
- similar words:
- adversity, collision, contretemps, crack-up, crash, misadventure, mischance, misfortune, mistake, pileup, smash-up
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| related words: |
calamity, chance, coincidence, disaster, emergency, luck, mishap, occurrence, wreck |
adjective + (n.)accident
avoidable,
bizarre,
catastrophic,
deadly,
devastating,
diving,
driving,
drunk,
fatal,
freak,
hit-and-run,
horrible,
horrific,
industrial,
involved,
minor,
near,
nuclear,
preventable,
random,
senseless,
serious,
sheer,
terrible,
tragic,
unfortunate
[See all][See only the most frequent]
verb + (n.)accident
bump, cause, die, disable, drown, injure, investigate, kill, paralyze, perish, prevent, stage, suffer, witness
(n.)accident
+ verb
befall, happen, involve, occur
noun + (n.)accident
aftermath,
airplane,
auto,
automobile,
aviation,
bicycle,
boating,
bus,
car,
cause,
climbing,
commuter,
crash,
crossing,
death,
fatality,
firearm,
freeway,
highway,
horseback,
hunting,
injury,
jam,
mine,
mining,
motor,
motorcycle,
occurrence,
pedestrian,
railroad,
riding,
rollover,
runway,
scene,
severity,
shooting,
shuttle,
skiing,
snowmobile,
swimming,
tanker,
taxi,
traffic,
vehicle,
workplace,
wreck
[See all][See only the most frequent]
|
| phrase: |
by accident |
The word accident comes from a Latin word meaning "to fall upon" or "to happen." An accident is an event that seems to fall down on us instead of being within our control.
The word accident
contains the following parts:
ac-
Latin
prefix
that means to, toward
  More about this word part:
The prefix ac-
occurs in Latin loanwords. It is an assimilated form of ad- used before Latin roots beginning with hard or soft "c" or "q." See ad-.
Example words:
accede, accelerate, accent, accept, acceptable, acceptance, acceptation, access, accessible, accession, accident, accidental, acclaim, acclamation, accommodate, accompany, accomplice, accomplish, accord, account, accredit, accrual, accumulate, accuracy, accurate, accuse, accustom, acquaint, acquire, acquit
cad, cas, cid2
Latin
root
that means to fall
Example words:
accident, accidental, cadaver, cadaverous, cadence, cascade, casualty, coincide, coincidence, decadent, deciduous, incidence, incident, incidental, occasion, occidental, recidivism
-ant, -ent
Latin
adjective- and noun-forming suffix
that means (in adjectives) doing the action denoted by the verb root; (in nouns) one who or that which does the action denoted by the verb root.
More about this word part:
The suffix -ant
, -ent
forms adjectives and, to a much lesser extent, nouns from Latin verb stems such as fid in confident
and stud in student
. This suffix is the equivalent in Latin of the "-ing" inflection in English. Many adjectives ending in -ant
, -ent
have a corresponding noun ending in -ance, -ence, -ancy, -ency.
Example words:
aberrant, accident, accidental, adherent, adjacent, affluent, agent, alterant, ambient, antecedent, applicant, arrogant, benevolent, coherent, combatant, complacent, confidant, confident, consequent, consultant, continent, conversant, current, defoliant, dependent, different, disinfectant, dissonant, dominant, efficient, eloquent, equilibrant, exorbitant, extravagant, fluent, hydrant, ignorant, important, inadvertent, incessant, incognizant, inconsonant, indignant, informant, itinerant, malevolent, miscreant, parent, participant, patient, precedent, predominant, president, prudent, pungent, recreant, reluctant, repugnant, resident, resonant, servant, significant, student, tenant, transcendent, vacant, vagrant, variant, verdant
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