incidental

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English incident

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālisbor.

Old French -albor.

▲

Latin -ālis

Old French -elbor.

▲

Latin -ālisbor.

Middle English -al

English -al

English incidental

From incident + -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnsɪˈdɛntəl/, /ɪnsəˈdɛntəl/
  • (US) IPA^(key): (nasal flap) [ɪnsɪˈdɛ.ɾ̃əl], (enunciated) [ɪnsɪˈdɛn.tʰəl]

    • Audio (US, enunciated):

      (file)

    • Audio (US, more common realization):

      (file)

Adjective

incidental (comparative more incidental, superlative most incidental)

1. Loosely associated; of limited relevance except indirectly; only accidentally related.

   That character, though colorful, is incidental to the overall plot.

   incidental evidence

2. Existing tangentially, being a byproduct, a tangent, or a likely consequence.

   Injuries are incidental to contact sports: they're going to happen.

3. Occurring by chance.
4. (physics, of radiation) Entering or approaching, prior to reflection (more frequently incident).

Synonyms

• (existing as an accident): accidental, contingent; See also Thesaurus:circumstantial
• (occurring by chance): accidental, serendipitous; See also Thesaurus:accidental

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “existing as an accident”): inevitable, necessary, impossible; See also Thesaurus:inevitable
• (antonym(s) of “occurring by chance”): inevitable, intentional; See also Thesaurus:intentional

Derived terms

• coincidental
• incidental expense
• incidentally
• incidental music
• incidentalness
• incidentaloma
• incidentalome
• nonincidental
• unincidental

Related terms

• incident
• incidence

Translations

loosely associated; existing as a byproduct, tangent, or accident; being a likely consequence

• Bulgarian: страничен (bg) (straničen), несъществен (bg) (nesǎštestven)
• Finnish: epäolennainen (fi)
• French: incidental (fr)
• German: zugehörig (de), beiläufig (de), anfallend (de), folgend (de), nebensächlich (de), gelegentlich (de), Neben- (de), Sonder- (de), zusammenhängend mit, indirekt (de), Begleit-, begleitend (de), verbunden (de), zusammengehörig (de), einhergehend mit
• Italian: incidentale (it)
• Japanese: 偶然の (ja) (gūzen no), 偶発的な (ja) (gūhatsuteki na)
• Portuguese: incidental
• Russian: эпизоди́чный (ru) (epizodíčnyj)
• Spanish: incidental (es)
• Turkish: ilgisiz (tr)
• Yiddish: אַגבֿדיק (agevdik)

occurring by chance

• Bashkir: осраҡлы (osraqlı)
• Bulgarian: случаен (bg) (slučaen)
• Finnish: satunnainen (fi)
• German: zufällig (de), Zufalls- (de)
• Indonesian: insidental (id), sewaktu-waktu (id)
• Russian: случа́йный (ru) (slučájnyj)
• Spanish: fortuito (es)
• Turkish: rastlantısal (tr)

entering or approaching, prior to reflection

• Bulgarian: падащ (bg) (padašt)
• Finnish: tuleva (fi)
• German: einfallend (de)

Noun

incidental (plural incidentals)

1. Minor items, not further defined. Incidental expense.

   She's costing us a lot in incidentals.

2. Something that is incidental.

Translations

minor items, not further defined — see also incidental expense

• German: Nebenausgabe f, Nebensächlichkeit (de) f, Nebenumstand m, Nebenkosten (de) f
• Japanese: 雑費 (ja) (zappi)

something that is incidental

• Bulgarian: епизод (bg) m (epizod)
• Finnish: sivuseikka (sthg of minor importance); sattuma (fi) (chance, accident)
• German: Unvorhergesehenes n, Nebensächliches n

Anagrams

• anticlined

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩ.si.dẽˈtaw/ [ĩ.si.dẽˈtaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.si.dẽˈtal/ [ĩ.si.ðẽˈtaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.si.dẽˈtal/ [ĩ.si.ðẽˈtaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.si.dẽˈta.li/ [ĩ.si.ðẽˈta.li]

• Rhymes: -al, -aw
• Hyphenation: in‧ci‧den‧tal

Adjective

incidental m or f (plural incidentais)

1. incidental (existing by chance)

Derived terms

• incidentalmente

Further reading

• “incidental”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French incidentel.

Adjective

incidental m or n (feminine singular incidentală, masculine plural incidentali, feminine/neuter plural incidentale)

1. incidental

Declension

Declension of incidental

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	incidental		incidentală	incidentali	incidentale
	definite	incidentalul		incidentala	incidentalii	incidentalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	incidental		incidentale	incidentali	incidentale
	definite	incidentalului		incidentalei	incidentalilor	incidentalelor

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /inθidenˈtal/ [ĩn̟.θi.ð̞ẽn̪ˈt̪al] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /insidenˈtal/ [ĩn.si.ð̞ẽn̪ˈt̪al] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: in‧ci‧den‧tal

Adjective

incidental m or f (masculine and feminine plural incidentales)

1. incidental (existing by chance)

Derived terms

• incidentalmente

Further reading

• “incidental”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025