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

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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

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Dictionary Entries near adventitious

adventitial cell

adventitious bud

adventitious membrane

adventitiousness

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Time Traveler for adventitious

The first known use of adventitious was in 1603

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More Definitions for adventitious

adventitious

adjective

ad·ven·ti·tious | \ -əs

\

Medical Definition of adventitious

1a : arising sporadically or in other than the usual location an adventitious part in embryonic development

b : occurring spontaneously or accidentally in a country or region to which it is not native an adventitious insect

2 : adventitial

3 : not congenital adventitious deafness

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