adventitious

adjective

ad·ven·ti·tious | \ ˌad-(ˌ)ven-ˈti-shəs

, -vən- \

Definition of adventitious

1 : coming from another source and not inherent or innate a Federal house without adventitious later additions adventitious influences

2 : arising or occurring sporadically or in other than the usual location adventitious roots

Other Words from adventitious Synonyms & Antonyms Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about adventitious

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Did You Know?

Adventitious is an adventitious word: it comes to English from the Latin adventicius, meaning "coming from outside." This, in turn, comes from "adventus," the past participle of the verb advenire, meaning "to arrive" or "to happen." That verb is also a source of several other English words, including "advent" (which, in its uncapitalized form, can refer to any coming or arrival), "adventure" (a word whose earliest sense was "chance happening"), and "avenue" (a means of arrival).

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, "How to Grow a Better Tomato," 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, "Bay Area gardens: How to cope with Japanese maple dieback," 28 Aug. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'adventitious.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.