From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Incident \In"ci*dent\, adjective [L. incidens, -entis, p. pr. & of incidere to fall into or upon; pref. in- in, on + cadere to fall: cf. F. incident. See {Cadence}.]
1. Falling or striking upon, as a ray of light upon a reflecting surface.
2. Coming or happening accidentally; not in the usual course of things; not in connection with the main design; not according to expectation; casual; fortuitous.
As the ordinary course of common affairs is disposed of by general laws, so likewise men's rarer incident necessities and utilities should be with special equity considered. --Hooker.
3. Liable to happen; apt to occur; befalling; hence, naturally happening or appertaining.
All chances incident to man's frail life. --Milton.
The studies incident to his profession. --Milward.
4. (Law) Dependent upon, or appertaining to, another thing, called the principal.
{Incident proposition} (Logic), a proposition subordinate to another, and introduced by who, which, whose, whom, etc.; as, Julius, whose surname was C[ae]sar, overcame Pompey. --I. Watts.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Incident \In"ci*dent\, noun [Cf. F. incident.]
1. That which falls out or takes place; an event; casualty; occurrence.
2. That which happens aside from the main design; an accidental or subordinate action or event.
No person, no incident, in a play but must be of use to carry on the main design. --Dryden.
3. (Law) Something appertaining to, passing with, or depending on, another, called the principal. --Tomlins.
Syn: Circumstance; event; fact; adventure; contingency; chance; accident; casualty. See {Event}.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
adjective
1: falling or striking on something
2: (sometimes followed by 'to') minor or casual or subordinate in significance or nature or occurring as a chance concomitant or consequence; "incidental expenses"; "the road will bring other incidental advantages"; "extra duties incidental to the job"; "labor problems incidental to a rapid expansion"; "confusion incidental to a quick change" [syn: {incidental}] [ant: {basic}]
noun
2: a public disturbance; "the police investigated an incident at the bus station"
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
77 Moby Thesaurus words for "incident": action, adventure, affair, anagnorisis, angle, architectonics, architecture, argument, atmosphere, background, catastrophe, characterization, circumstance, color, commotion, complication, condition, conjuncture, contingency, continuity, contrivance, denouement, design, development, device, disturbance, do, episode, event, eventuality, experience, fable, fact, falling action, fracas, gimmick, hap, happening, happenstance, juncture, line, local color, matter of fact, mood, motif, movement, mythos, occasion, occurrence, particular, peripeteia, phenomenon, plan, plot, proceeding, reality, recognition, rising action, scene, scheme, secondary plot, set-to, skirmish, slant, story, structure, subject, subplot, switch, thematic development, theme, to-do, tone, topic, turn of events, twist, upset
Define.com is a registered nonprofit corporation dedicated solely to the global public interest and the advancement of humanity. It belongs to all of us who have a desire to promote electronic democracy, science, creativity, imagination, reason, critical thinking, peace, race and gender equality, civil rights, equal access to education, personal liberty, free speech, animal rights, compassionate and nonviolent parenting, social and economic justice, global monetary reform, Secular Humanism, cognitive liberty and a permanent cessation of The War on Drugs.
Let's see what we can do if we put our heads together.
0