Word of the Day

: May 15, 2012

accident

noun AK-suh-dunt

What It Means

1 a : an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance

b : lack of intention or necessity : chance

2 : an unfortunate event resulting especially from carelessness or ignorance

3 : a nonessential property or quality of an entity or circumstance

accident in Context

Following the second work-related accident in two weeks, operations at the factory were shut down so that a thorough safety review could be conducted.

"Too many kids - by accident of birth - start life with the odds against them, and too many schools don't do much to improve those odds." - From an article in The News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington), December 9, 2011

Did You Know?

"Accident" is just one of many words in the English language to come down to us from the Latin verb "cadere," meaning "to fall." Among the others are "deciduous" (an adjective used to describe something, such as leaves, which fall off or shed seasonally or at a certain stage of development in the life cycle), "cascade" (which can mean, among other things, "a steep fall of water" or "something falling or rushing forth"),"cadence" ("a falling inflection of the voice"), and "decay" ("to fall into ruin"). "Chance," which functions as a synonym of "accident" in one sense, is also a "cadere" descendant.