incident

[ in-si-duhnt ]

noun

1. an individual occurrence or event.

   Synonyms: happening

2. a distinct piece of action, or an episode, as in a story or play.
3. something that occurs casually in connection with something else.
4. something appertaining or attaching to something else.
5. 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.

6. 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.

3. conjoined or attaching, especially as subordinate to a principal thing.
4. falling or striking on something, as light rays.

incident

/ ˈɪnsɪdənt /

noun

1. a distinct or definite occurrence; event
2. a minor, subsidiary, or related event or action
3. a relatively insignificant event that might have serious consequences, esp in international politics
4. a public disturbance

   the police had reports of an incident outside a pub

5. the occurrence of something interesting or exciting

   the trip was not without incident

adjective

1. postpositivefoll byto related (to) or dependent (on)
2. whenpostpositive, often foll by to having a subsidiary or minor relationship (with)
3. (esp of a beam of light or particles) arriving at or striking a surface

   incident electrons

Other Words From

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of incident¹

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; cadenza

Word History and Origins

Origin of incident¹

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

Synonym Study

See event.

Example Sentences

Indonesia is regarded as a hotspot – it has reported the highest number of incidents in the past two decades, according to MSF, largely down to the widespread production and consumption of bootleg liquor.

From BBC

The incident did not appear to dent either Prescott's or Labour's ratings in the polls.

From BBC

Officers also said the incident was "not terrorism-related", but was being treated as "religiously aggravated".

From BBC

According to the company's service status dashboard, the incident began at 10:53 UTC.

From BBC

The spokesperson said in a statement that the incident was under investigation but noted that teachers are encouraged to “use real-life issues, like the recent elections, to have meaningful and age-appropriate classroom discussions with students.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• circumstance
• episode
• event
• fact
• matter
• scene