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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
circumstantial \cir'cum*stan"tial\ (s[~e]r'k[u^]m*st[a^]n"shal), a. [Cf. F. circonstanciel.]
1. Consisting in, or pertaining to, circumstances or particular incidents.
The usual character of human testimony is substantial truth under circumstantial variety. --Paley.
2. Incidental; relating to, but not essential.
We must therefore distinguish between the essentials in religious worship . . . and what is merely circumstantial. --Sharp.
3. Abounding with circumstances; detailing or exhibiting all the circumstances; minute; particular.
Tedious and circumstantial recitals. --Prior.
{Circumstantial evidence} (Law), evidence obtained from circumstances, which necessarily or usually attend facts of a particular nature, from which arises presumption. According to some authorities circumstantial is distinguished from positive evidence in that the latter is the testimony of eyewitnesses to a fact or the admission of a party; but the prevalent opinion now is that all such testimony is dependent on circumstances for its support. All testimony is more or less circumstantial. --Wharton.
Syn: See {Minute}.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Circumstantial \Cir'cum*stan"tial\, noun Something incidental to the main subject, but of less importance; opposed to an essential; -- generally in the plural; as, the circumstantials of religion. --Addison.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
circumstantial
adjective: fully detailed and specific about particulars; "a circumstantial report about the debate"
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
124 Moby Thesaurus words for "circumstantial": absolute, accessory, accidental, accompanying, accurate, additional, adducible, admissible, ado, adscititious, adventitious, afloat, afoot, aleatory, appurtenant, ascititious, attestative, attestive, authentic, auxiliary, based on, blow-by-blow, casual, certain, chance, close, collateral, complete, conclusive, conditional, contingent, convincing, cumulative, current, damning, decisive, deduced, detailed, determinative, documentary, documented, doing, eventuating, evidential, evidentiary, ex parte, exact, explicit, extra, extraneous, eye-witness, factual, final, firsthand, fortuitous, founded on, full, going on, grounded on, happening, hearsay, implicative, implicit, implied, in hand, in the wind, incidental, incontrovertible, indicative, indirect, indisputable, inessential, inferential, inferred, interpretive, irrefutable, irresistible, itemized, material, minute, nice, nonessential, nuncupative, occasional, occurring, on, on foot, ongoing, overwhelming, particular, particularized, passing, precise, presumable, presumed, presumptive, prevailing, prevalent, probative, provisional, reliable, replete, resultant, secondary, significant, specific, strict, subsidiary, suggestive, superadded, superfluous, supervenient, supplemental, supplementary, sure, symptomatic, taking place, telling, thorough, under way, unessential, unimportant, valid, weighty
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