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Webster 1913 Edition

Accident

Ac′ci-dent

,
Noun.
[F.
accident
, fr. L.
accidens
,
-dentis
, p. pr. of
accidere
to happen;
ad
+
cadere
to fall. See
Cadence
,
Case
.]
1.
Literally, a befalling; an event that takes place without one’s foresight or expectation; an undesigned, sudden, and unexpected event; chance; contingency; often, an undesigned and unforeseen occurrence of an afflictive or unfortunate character; a casualty; a mishap;
as, to die by an
accident
.
Of moving
accidents
by flood and field.
Shakespeare
Thou cam'st not to thy place by
accident
:
It is the very place God meant for thee.
Trench.
2.
(Gram.)
A property attached to a word, but not essential to it, as gender, number, case.
3.
(Her.)
A point or mark which may be retained or omitted in a coat of arms.
4.
(Log.)
(a)
A property or quality of a thing which is not essential to it, as whiteness in paper; an attribute.
(b)
A quality or attribute in distinction from the substance, as sweetness, softness.
5.
Any accidental property, fact, or relation; an accidental or nonessential;
as, beauty is an
accident
.
This
accident
, as I call it, of Athens being situated some miles from the sea.
J. P. Mahaffy.
6.
Unusual appearance or effect.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
☞ Accident, in Law, is equivalent to casus, or such unforeseen, extraordinary, extraneous interference as is out of the range of ordinary calculation.

Webster 1828 Edition

Accident

AC'CIDENT

,
Noun.
[L. accidens, falling, from ad and cado, to fall. See Case and Cadence. Class Gd.]
1.
A coming or falling; an event that takes place without one's foresight or expectation; an event which proceeds from an unknown cause, or is an unusual effect of a known cause, and therefore not expected; chance; casualty; contingency.
2.
That which takes place or begins to exist without an efficient intelligent cause and without design.
All of them, in his opinion, owe their being, to fate, accident, or the blind action of stupid matter.
3.
In logic, a property, or quality of a being which is not essential to it, as whiteness in paper. Also all qualities are called accidents, in opposition to substance, as sweetness, softness, and things not essential to a body, as clothes.
4.
In grammar, something belonging to a word, but not essential to it, as gender, number, inflection.
5.
In heraldry, a point or mark, not essential to a coat of arms.

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