adventitious

adjective

ad·ven·ti·tious ˌad-(ˌ)ven-ˈti-shəs

-vən-

Synonyms of adventitious next

: coming from another source and not inherent or innate

a Federal house without adventitious later additions

adventitious influences

: arising or occurring sporadically or in other than the usual location

adventitious roots

adventitiously adverb

Examples of adventitious in a Sentence

the point of view that art should be for art's sake and that moral considerations are adventitious to the study of art

Recent Examples on the Web Plant Deep — Really Deep Tomatoes have the ability to produce roots off their stems, known as adventitious roots. —

Margaret Roach, New York Times, 12 May 2020 This can also occur when trees are planted too deep, as adventitious (growing sideways from the stem) roots grow against the stem and squeeze the sapwood. —

Rebecca Jepsen, The Mercury News, 28 Aug. 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'adventitious.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin adventīcius "coming from outside, external, foreign," from adventus, past participle of advenīre "to arrive, approach" + -īcius -itious — more at advent

First Known Use

1603, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of adventitious was in 1603

See more words from the same year