Added 9 October 2026
adventitious
/ˌæd.vənˈtɪʃ.əs/ adjective
Latin root: adventītius Wiktionary
adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about adventitious at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- From an external source; not innate or inherent, foreign.
- Accidental, additional, appearing casually.
- Not congenital; acquired.
Origin
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).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)