adventitious

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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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adventitiously

adverb

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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

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).

Origin and Etymology of adventitious

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1603

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