adventitious
/ˌæd.vənˈtɪʃ.əs/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.96 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
4
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
adj
Not congenital; acquired.
adj
Developing in an unusual place or from an unusual source.
Example Sentences
- "In a triad of verbs that admits nothing adventitious, Judah sees, takes, and lies with a woman; […]"
- "The discovery of the art of making pottery was probably in all cases adventitious, the clay being first used for some other purpose."
- "The adventitious disappearance of those nearer the throne than the duke had, moreover, set tongues awagging."
- "The Velloziaceae have evolved a woody stem which is covered with a layer of adventitious roots mingled with the fibres of the old leaf sheaths;"
Etymology
From Medieval Latin adventītius (“coming from abroad, extraneous”), a corruption of Latin adventīcius (“foreign, strange, accidental”), from adventus (“arrival, coming, approach, advent”) + -īcius (suffix forming adjectives), from adveniō (“to arrive”) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns).
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *gʷem-, adventītius, adventīcius