adventitious

American  

[ad-vuhn-tish-uhs] / ˌæd vənˈtɪʃ əs /

adjective

1. associated with something by chance rather than as an integral part; extrinsic.

2. Botany, Zoology. appearing in an abnormal or unusual position or place, as a root.

---

adventitious British  

/ ˌædvɛnˈtɪʃəs /

adjective

1. added or appearing accidentally or unexpectedly

2. (of a plant or animal part) developing in an abnormal position, as a root that grows from a stem

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• adventitiousness
  noun
• adventitiously
  adverb
• nonadventitiously
  adverb
• nonadventitious
  adjective
• nonadventitiousness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of adventitious

1595–1605; < Latin adventīcius literally, coming from without, external, equivalent to ad- ad- + ven- (stem of venīre to come) + -t ( us ) past participle suffix + -īcius -itious

Explanation

Adventitious is a word you use to talk about things that "just kind of happen," not because you are trying to do them, but because they just come along. Christopher Columbus's stumbling upon the Caribbean while searching for a new route to India was adventitious. When you make an adventitious rhyme while speaking, you might hear, "You're a poet, you didn't know it, your long feet show it."

Example Sentences

Adventitious organs are those that grow in unusual places, such as roots growing from the side of a stem.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

Adventitious: occurring accidentally, out of the ordinary course, without apparent reason.

From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.

For these Adventitious Corpuscles Associating themselves with the Protuberant Particles of the Surface of a Colour'd Body, must necessarily alter their Bigness, and will most commonly alter their Shape.

From Experiments and Considerations Touching Colours (1664) by Boyle, Robert

Adventitious circumstances bring some men and women more prominently before the world than others, but even such fame as this is transient, evanescent, and of little importance.

From Quit Your Worrying! by James, George Wharton

Adventitious buds are such as are newly formed from callus or other tissues in places not normally provided with buds, as is often seen on occluding wounds—e.g. stool shoots.

From Disease in Plants by Ward, H. Marshall