incident

[ in-si-duhnt ]
See synonyms for: incidentincidents on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. an individual occurrence or event.

  2. a distinct piece of action, or an episode, as in a story or play.

  1. something that occurs casually in connection with something else.

  2. something appertaining or attaching to something else.

  3. an occurrence of seemingly minor importance, especially involving nations or factions between which relations are strained and sensitive, that can lead to serious consequences, as an outbreak of hostilities or a war: border incident; international incident.

  4. an embarrassing occurrence, especially of a social nature.

adjective
  1. likely or apt to happen (usually followed by to).

  2. naturally appertaining: hardships incident to the life of an explorer.

  1. conjoined or attaching, especially as subordinate to a principal thing.

  2. falling or striking on something, as light rays.

Origin of incident

1
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Middle French, from Medieval Latin incident- (stem of incidēns “a happening,” noun use of present participle of Latin verb incidere “to fall upon, befall”), equivalent to Latin in- in-2 + -cid- (combining form of cad- “fall”) + -ent- -ent; see cadenza

synonym study For incident

1. See event.

Other words for incident

Other words from incident

  • in·ci·dent·less, adjective
  • non·in·ci·dent, noun, adjective

Words that may be confused with incident

Words Nearby incident

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use incident in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for incident

incident

/ (ˈɪnsɪdənt) /


noun
  1. a distinct or definite occurrence; event

  2. a minor, subsidiary, or related event or action

  1. a relatively insignificant event that might have serious consequences, esp in international politics

  2. a public disturbance: the police had reports of an incident outside a pub

  3. the occurrence of something interesting or exciting: the trip was not without incident

adjective
  1. (postpositive foll by to) related (to) or dependent (on)

  2. (when postpositive, often foll by to) having a subsidiary or minor relationship (with)

  1. (esp of a beam of light or particles) arriving at or striking a surface: incident electrons

Origin of incident

1
C15: from Medieval Latin incidens an event, from Latin incidere, literally: to fall into, hence befall, happen, from in- ² + cadere to fall

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012