1. (n.) 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.

2. (n.) A property attached to a word, but not essential to it, as gender, number, case.

3. (n.) A point or mark which may be retained or omitted in a coat of arms.

4. (n.) A property or quality of a thing which is not essential to it, as whiteness in paper; an attribute.

5. (n.) A quality or attribute in distinction from the substance, as sweetness, softness.

6. (n.) Any accidental property, fact, or relation; an accidental or nonessential; as, beauty is an accident.

7. (n.) Unusual appearance or effect.

accessary accessory accidental addendum addition adjunct adventure appendage appurtenance auxiliary blow blunder calamity casualty cataclysm catastrophe chance chance hit collateral collision coming to be contingency contingent contretemps crack-up crash destiny disaster event eventuality eventuation extra fate fluke fortuity fortune freak accident grief hap happening happenstance hazard ill hap incidence incidental inessential kismet long odds long shot luck lucky shot materialization mere chance misadventure mischance misfortune mishap mistake nasty blow nonessential not-self other pileup realization secondary serendipity shipwreck shock smash smashup staggering blow subsidiary superaddition supplement tragedy unessential wreck