ADVENTITIOUS

adventitious

(adjective) associated by chance and not an integral part; “poetry is something to which words are the accidental, not by any means the essential form”- Frederick W. Robertson; “they had to decide whether his misconduct was adventitious or the result of a flaw in his character”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Adjective

adventitious (comparative more adventitious, superlative most adventitious)

From an external source; not innate or inherent, foreign.

Accidental, additional, appearing casually.

(genetics, medicine) Not congenital; acquired.

(biology) Developing in an unusual place or from an unusual source.

Synonyms

• (from an external source): extrinsic

• (accidental, additional): accidental, spontaneous, sporadic; see also accidental

• (not congenital): acquired

Source: Wiktionary

Ad`ven*ti"tious, a. Etym: [L. adventitius.]

1. Added extrinsically; not essentially inherent; accidental or causal; additional; supervenient; foreign. To things of great dimensions, if we annex an adventitious idea of terror, they become without comparison greater. Burke.

2. (Nat. Hist.)

Definition: Out of the proper or usual place; as, adventitious buds or roots.

3. (Bot.)

Definition: Accidentally or sparingly spontaneous in a country or district; not fully naturalized; adventive; -- applied to foreign plants.

4. (Med.)

Definition: Acquired, as diseases; accidental.

– Ad`ven*ti"tious*ly, adv.

– Ad`ven*ti"tious*ness, n.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition