accession 
3. Increase by something added ; that which 
is added; augmentation; addition: as, an ac- 
cession of wealth, territory, or numbers. 
The only accession which the Roman Empire received 
was the province of Britain. Gibbon. 
The yule log drew an unusually large accession of guests 
around the Christmas hearth. 
Barhatn, Ini;oldsby Legends, I. 17. 
The ship brought hut twenty passengers, and quenched 
all hope of immediate atw,v.vMm\. 
llitiirnift, Hist. U. S., I. 285. 
4. In law, a mode of acquiring property, by 
which the owner of a corporeal substance 
which receives an addition by growth or by the 
application of labor has a right to the thing 
added or to the improvement, as an addition 
to a house made by a tenant under an ordinary 
lease. 5. In med., the attack, approach, or 
commencement of a disease; access. 6. In 
the election of a pope, the transference of votes 
from one candidate to another, when the scru- 
tiny has not resulted in a choice. The oppor- 
tunity of doing this is called an accessit (which 
Bee). Deed Of accession, in Scots law, a deed executed 
by the creditors of a bankrupt, by which they approve of 
a trust given by their debtor for the general behoof, and 
bind themselves to concur in the plans proposed for extri- 
cating his affairs. = Syn. 2. Consent, compliance, assent, 
acquiescence. 3. Increase, addition, increment, exten- 
sion, augmentation. 
accessional (ak-sesh'on-al), a. [=Pg. acces- 
sional, < L. as if "acce'ssionalis : see accession.] 
Consisting in or due to accession; giving in- 
crease or enlargement ; additional. 
The specific and accesttional perfections which the hu- 
man understanding derives from it. Coleridye. 
I regard that, rather, as a superinduced, collateral, ac- 
ci'xxinmd fame, a necessity of greatness. 
R. Choate, Addresses, p. 522. 
accessit (ak-ses'it), n. [L., he has come near, 
3d pers. sing, perf . ind. of aecedere, to come to or 
near: see accede.] 1. In English and other col- 
leges, a certificate or prize awarded to a stu- 
dent of second (or lower) merit: as, second 
accessit, third, fourth, etc., aceessit. 2. In the 
election of a pope, an opportunity given the 
members of the conclave, after each ballot, to 
revise their votes. 
Every morning a ballot is cast, followed in the evening 
by an " accessit" ; that is, if the morning ballot has led to 
no result, any of the electors is allowed to transfer his 
vote to that one of the candidates whom he can expect 
thereby to get elected. Schaff-Herzon, Encyc., I. 521. 
accessivet (ak-ses'iv), a. [< ML. accessivus 
(rare, and special sense uncertain, but lit. ' ad- 
ditional'), < L. acccssus, addition: see access.'] 
Additional ; contributory. 
God " opened the eyes of one that was born blind " and 
had increased this creeity by his own accessioe and exces- 
sive wickedness. Rev. T. Adam*, Works, II. 379. 
accessorial (ak-se-so'ri-al), a. Pertaining to 
an accessory : as, accessorial agency. 
Alere accessorial guilt was not enough to convict him. 
R. Choate, Addresses, p. 265. 
accessorily (ak-ses'o-ri-li or ak'se-so-ri-li), adv. 
In the manner of an accessory; not as princi- 
pal, but as a subordinate agent. Also written 
accessarily. 
accessoriness (ak-ses'o-ri-nes or ak'se-so-ri- 
nes), n. The state of being accessory, or of 
being or acting as an accessory. Also written 
accessariness. 
accessorius (ak-se-so'ri-us), a. and n. ; pi. acces- 
sorii (-1). [ML. : see accessory.] In anat., ac- 
cessory, or an accessory. Applied (a) To several 
muscles : as, musculus accessorius ad sacro-lumbalem, 
the accessory muscle of the sacro-Iumbalis, passing, in 
man, by successive slips, from the six lower to the six 
upper ribs ; accessorii orbicularis superiores, accessorii 
orbicularis inferiores, certain superior and inferior addi- 
tional or accessory muscular fibers of the orbicularis oris 
muscle of man ; flexor accessorius, the accessory flexor of 
the sole of the foot of man, arising by two heads from the 
os calcis or heel-bone, and inserted into the tendon of 
the long flexor of the toes (flexor longus digitorum). (b) 
To the eleventh pair of cranial nerves, also called the 
spinal accessory nerves. They give filaments to the vagus, 
and innervate the sterno-mastoid and trapezius muscles. 
accessory (ak-ses'o-ri or ak'se-so-ri), a. and n. 
[= F. accessoire = Sp. accesorio = Pg. It. acces- 
sorio, < ML. accessories, < L. accessus,r>p. of ac- 
cedere: see accede, .and of . accessary.] I. a, l.(Of 
persons.) Acceding; contributing; aiding in 
producing some effect, or acting in subordina- 
tion to the principal agent: usually in a bad 
sense : as, accessory to a felony. Technically, 
in law, it implies aiding without being present 
at the act. 2. (Of things.) (a) Contributing to 
a general effect ; aiding in certain acts or effects 
in a secondary manner; belonging to something 
else as principal ; accompanying: as, accessory 
sounds in music ; accessory muscles. (6) Ad- 
ditional, or of the nature of an appendage ; as, 
34 
accessory buds are developed by the side of or 
above the normal axillary bud. Accessory action, 
in Scots laic, an action in some decree subservient or an- 
cillary to another action. Accessory contract, one 
made for the purpose of assuring the performance of a 
prior contract, either by the same parties or by others, 
such us a suretyship, a mortgage, or a pledge. Bouvter. 
Accessory disk, the thin, slightly dim, and anisotropous 
disk seen near the intermediate disk in certain forms 
and conditions of striated inusrlr liU-i^. Accessory 
fruits, those fruits a considerable portion of whose sub- 
stance is distinct from the seed-vessel and formed of the 
accrescent ami succulent calyx, or torus, or receptacle, 
bracts, etc. Accessory muscles. See accessorius. Ac- 
cessory obligation, an obligation incidental or subor- 
dinate to another obligation. Thus, an obligation for the 
regular payment of interest is accenson/ to the obligation 
to pay the principal ; a mortgage to secure payment of 
a bond is accessory to the bond. Accessory valves, in 
Written. 
Played. 
a stroke drawn through the chord under the note to 
which it belongs. It is now used only in organ-music. 
(&) More frequently, a short appoggiatura. See 
<i/>/i(/giatura. 
accidence 1 (ak'si-dens), n. [A misspelling of 
accidents, pi., or an accom. of L. accidentia, 
neut. pi., as accidence^ of L. accidentia, fern, 
sing. : see accident, 6.] 1. That part of gram- 
mar which treats of the accidents or inflection 
of words ; a small book containing the rudi- 
ments of grammar. 
I ... never yet did learn mine accidence. 
John Taylor (the Water-Poet). 
Pholas chitocnsis, showing Accessory Valves (a a). 
zoiil., small additional valves, as those placed near the 
umhunes of the genus Pholas among moflusks. Spinal 
accessory nerves, in anat., the eleventh pair of cranial 
nerves. See accessorial. 
II. n. ; pi. accessories (-riz). 1. In toir ; one 
who is guilty of a felony, not by committing 
the offense in person or as a principal, nor by 
being present at its commission, but by being 
in some other way concerned therein, as by ad- 
vising or inciting another to commit the crime, 
or by concealing the offender or in any way 
helping him to escape punishment. An accessory 
before, the fact is one who counsels or incites another to 
commit a felony, and who is not present when the act is 
done ; after the fact, one who receives and conceals, or in 
any way assists, the offender, knowing him to have com- 
mitted a felony. In high treason and misdemeanor, by 
English law, there are no accessories, all implicated being 
treated as principals. See abetter. 
An accessory is one who participates in a felony too re- 
motely to be deemed a principal. Bishop. 
In that state [Massachusetts], too, the aider and abettor, 
who at common law would have been but a mere acces- 
sory, may be indicted and convicted of a substantive 
felony, without any regard to the Indictment or conviction 
of the principal. Am. Cyc., I. 58. 
The prevailing rule of the criminal law, that there may 
be principals and accessories to a crime, has no applica- 
tion whatever to treason. Am. Cyc., XV. 851. 
2. That which accedes or belongs to some- 
thing else as its principal ; a subordinate part 
or object ; an accompaniment. 
The wealth of both Indies seems in great part but an 
accessary to the command of the sea. Bacon, Essays, xxix. 
The aspect and accessories of a den of banditti. Carlyle. 
3. Inthe^wenrte, an object represented which 
is not a main motive or center of interest, but 
is introduced to balance the composition or in 
some way enhance its artistic effectiveness. 
In a portrait, for example, everything but the figure is an 
accessory. 
In painting the picture of an Oriental, the pipe and the 
coffee-cup are indispensable accessories. 
B. Taylor, Lands of the Saracen, p. 178. 
[In all uses interchangeable with accessary, but 
accessory is more common.] = Syn. 1. Abetter, ac- 
complice. See the definitions of these words, 
acciaccatura (at-chak-ka-to'ra), n. [It.; lit., the 
effect of crushing, < acciaccarc, bruise, crush, 
< acciare, mince, hash, < accia, an ax, < L. ascia, 
an ax : see axl.] In music : (a) A grace-note 
one half step below a principal note, struck at 
the same time with the principal note and im- 
mediately left, while the latter is held. Before a 
single note it is indicated in the same manner as the short 
appoggiatura ; before a note of a chord it is indicated by 
accidental 
We carried an accidence, or a grammar, for form. 
Lit m''. rhrist's Hospital. 
Hence 2. The rudiments of any subject. 
The puets who were just then learning the accidence 
of their art. Lutci'U, Amun^ my llouks. -Jil ser., p. 162. 
accidence 2 ! (ak'si-dens), n. [< ME. c<-i<i<-nr<; 
< OF. in-fidrni'i; < L. accidentia, a chance, a 
casual event, < acciden(t-)s, ppr. of urcidere, 
happen : see accident.] A fortuitous circum- 
slunee; an accident. 
accident (ak'si-dent), n. [< ME. accident, < OF. 
uri'iili'iit, F. ii criden t = Sp. Pg. It. accidente, < 
L. accide>i(t-)s, an accident, chance, misfor- 
tune, prop. ppr. of accidere, fall upon, befall, 
happen, chance, < ad, to, upon, + cadere, fall : 
see cadence, easel, an j chance^ 1. In general, 
anything that happens or begins to be without 
design, or as an unforeseen effect ; that which 
falls out by chance ; a fortuitous event or cir- 
cumstance. 
The story of my life, 
And the particular accidents gone by, 
Since I came to this isle. Shak., Tempest, v. 1. 
Whenever words tumble out under the blindest acci- 
dentg of the moment, those are the words retained. 
De Quincey, Style, i. 
2. Specifically, an undesirable or unfortunate 
happening ; an undesigned harm or injury ; a 
casualty or mishap. In legal use, an accident is: (a) 
An event happening without the concurrence of the will 
of the person by whose agency it was caused. It differs 
from mistake, in that the latter always supposes the 
operation of the will of the agent in producing the event, 
although that will is caused by erroneous impressions on 
the mind. Kdw. Livint/ston. See mistake, (b) Sometimes, 
in a loose sense, any event that takes place without one's 
foresight or expectation, (c) Specifically, in equity prac- 
tice, an event which is not the result of personal negli- 
gence or misconduct. 
3. The operation of chance ; an undesigned 
contingency ; a happening without intentional 
causation ; chance ; fortune : as, it was the re- 
sult of accident; I was there by accident. 
Prizes of accident as oft as merit. 
Shale., T. and C., iii. 3. 
All of them, in his opinion, owe their )>eing to fate, acci- 
dent, or the blind action of stupid matter. IhmgM. 
4f. That which exists or occurs abnormally ; 
something unusual or phenomenal ; an uncom- 
mon occurrence or appearance. 
Noon accident for noon adversitee 
Was seyn in her. Chaucer, Clerk's Tale, 1. 607. 
The accident was loud, and here before thee 
With rueful cry. Milton, S. A., 1. 1552. 
5. Irregularity ; unevenness ; abruptness, (a) 
Any chance, unexpected, or unusual quality or circum- 
stance. 
The happy accidents of old English houses. 
H. James, Jr., Portraits of Places, p. 262. 
(b) An irregularity of surface ; an undulation : as, the 
enemy was favored by the accidents of the ground. 
6. A non-essential. In logic (translation of Gr. avfi.- 
p07)K6f) : (a) Any predicate, mark, character, or whatever 
is in a subject or inheres in a substance : in this sense 
opposed to substance, (b) A character which may be 
present in or absent from a member of a natural class : in 
this sense it is one of the five predicables, viz., genus, dif- 
ference, species, property, accident. Accidents are divided 
into separable and inseparable. The distinction between 
an inseparable accident and a property is not clear. 
If two or three hundred men are to be found who can- 
not live out of Madeira, that inability would still be an 
accident and a peculiarity of each of them. 
J. H. Newman, Gram, of Assent, p. 83. 
7. In gram., a variation or inflection of a word, 
not essential to its primary signification, but 
marking a modification of its relation, as gen- 
der, number, and case. See accidence!. 
[In Malay) the noun has no accidents. 
R. N. Ctut, Mod. Langs. E. Ind., p. 134. 
Chapter of accidents. See chapter. Conversion by 
accident. See coneenion. Efficient cause by acci- 
dent. See cause. Fallacy Of accident. See fallacy. 
= Syn. 1. Chance, mischance, hap, mishap, fortune, mis- 
fortune, luck, bad luck, casualty, calamity, disaster. 6. 
Property, Attribute, etc. See quality. 
accidental (ak-si-den'tal), a. and n. [=F. 
accidental = Pr. Sp. Pg. accidental = It. acci- 
dentale, < ML. accidentals, < L. acciden(t-)s, an 
accident, chance: see accident.] I. a. 1. Hap- 
pening by chance or accident, or unexpectedly; 
taking place not according to the usual course 
of things; casual; fortuitous; unintentional: 
as, an accidental meeting. 2. Non-essential; 
not necessarily belonging to the subject ; ad- 
ventitious: as, songs are accidental to a play. 
Of your philosophy you make no use, 
If you give place to accidental evils. 
Shak., J. C., iv. 3. 
Accidental being. See beiny. Accidental colors, 
in d/rfiV*, prismatic complementary colors seen when the 
eye is turned suddenly to a white or Ugnt-oolored surface, 
after it has been fixed for a time on a bright-colored ob- 
ject. If the object is blue, the accidental color is yellow ; 
if red, green, etc. Thus, if we look fixedly at a red wafer on a 
piece of white paper, and then turn the eye to another part 
of the paper, a green spot is seen. Accidental deflni- 
