DictionaryRoot: ad-
Latin

ad-

to, toward; addition; sometimes emphasis

Forms

  • ad-
  • ac- — Used before c in Latin.
  • af- — Used before f in Latin.
  • ag- — Used before g in Latin.
  • al- — Used before l in Latin.
  • ap- — Used before p in Latin.
  • ar- — Used before r in Latin.
  • as- — Used before s in Latin.
  • at- — Used before t in Latin.

Origin

Reconstructed Proto-Indo-European *ad, ‘to; near.’

Note

Later Latin-based spellings sometimes restored consonants that had disappeared in French.

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noun

accident

AK-sih-dunt/ˈæksɪdənt/

An event that happens without being intended or planned.

An accident sends the woman's mug crashing to the floor.

An adult accidentally brushes a ceramic mug off table with her elbow while turning; mug has just broken on the floor into three large pieces with a small water spill.
Etymology

The image of something “falling upon” someone became a way to describe something happening by chance. This broad sense narrowed toward an undesirable event or mishap, underlying the modern harmful sense.

In context

Mentour Pilot27:24
This accident really opened the eyes of the industry into the possibilities and the risks associated with an in-flight thrust reverser deployment event.
HOW an Impossible Failure CRASHED this Boeing 767!

More examples

  • She discovered the shortcut by accident.
  • No one was hurt in the factory accident.
  • Their matching outfits were an accident.

Forms

accident · accidents

Similar words

mishap
Often suggests a smaller, less serious unfortunate event.
collision
A particular accident involving things striking each other.