accidence

== English == === Etymology === First attested in the late 14th century. (grammar): First attested in the mid 15th century. From Middle English accidence, accidens, from Latin accidentia (“accidental matters”), from accidēns, present participle of accidere (“to happen”) === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈæk.sɪ.dəns/ IPA(key): /ˈæk.sə.dəns/, /ˈæk.sə.dɛns/, /ˈæk.sə.dənts/, /ˈæk.sə.dɛnts/ === Noun === accidence (countable and uncountable, plural accidences) (grammar) The inflection of words. 1669, John Milton, Accedence Commenc’t Grammar (title of a Latin grammar)[2] 1871, Review of An Elementary Greek Grammar by William W. Goodwin, North American Review, Volume 112, No. 231, 1 April, 1871, p. 427,[3] Our best schools send every year to college boys who know their accidence reasonably, and in some cases admirably well […] The rudiments of any subject. A book containing the first principles of grammar; (by extension) a book containing the rudiments of any subject or art. ==== Related terms ==== accident === References === “accidence”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.