Word Study
circumstantial
CIDE DICTIONARY
circumstantial, a. [Cf. F. circonstanciel.].
- Consisting in, or pertaining to, circumstances or particular incidents. [1913 Webster]"The usual character of human testimony is substantial truth under circumstantial variety." [1913 Webster]
- Incidental; relating to, but not essential. [1913 Webster]"We must therefore distinguish between the essentials in religious worship . . . and what is merely circumstantial." [1913 Webster]
- Abounding with circumstances; detailing or exhibiting all the circumstances; minute; particular. [1913 Webster]"Tedious and circumstantial recitals." [1913 Webster]
Syn. -- See Minute.
circumstantial, n.
Something incidental to the main subject, but of less importance; opposed to an essential; -- generally in the plural; as, the circumstantials of religion. Addison. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
circumstantial, adj.
1 given in full detail (a circumstantial account).
2 (of evidence, a legal case, etc.) tending to establish a conclusion by inference from known facts hard to explain otherwise.
3 a depending on circumstances. b adventitious, incidental.
1 given in full detail (a circumstantial account).
2 (of evidence, a legal case, etc.) tending to establish a conclusion by inference from known facts hard to explain otherwise.
3 a depending on circumstances. b adventitious, incidental.
Derivative
circumstantiality n. circumstantially adv.
Etymology
L circumstantia: see CIRCUMSTANCE
THESAURUS
circumstantial
absolute, accessory, accidental, accompanying, accurate, additional, adducible, admissible, ado, adscititious, adventitious, afloat, afoot, aleatory, appurtenant, ascititious, attestative, attestive, authentic, auxiliary, based on, blow-by-blow, casual, certain, chance, close, collateral, complete, conclusive, conditional, contingent, convincing, cumulative, current, damning, decisive, deduced, detailed, determinative, documentary, documented, doing, eventuating, evidential, evidentiary, ex parte, exact, explicit, extra, extraneous, eye-witness, factual, final, firsthand, fortuitous, founded on, full, going on, grounded on, happening, hearsay, implicative, implicit, implied, in hand, in the wind, incidental, incontrovertible, indicative, indirect, indisputable, inessential, inferential, inferred, interpretive, irrefutable, irresistible, itemized, material, minute, nice, nonessential, nuncupative, occasional, occurring, on, on foot, ongoing, overwhelming, particular, particularized, passing, precise, presumable, presumed, presumptive, prevailing, prevalent, probative, provisional, reliable, replete, resultant, secondary, significant, specific, strict, subsidiary, suggestive, superadded, superfluous, supervenient, supplemental, supplementary, sure, symptomatic, taking place, telling, thorough, under way, unessential, unimportant, valid, weightyROGET THESAURUS
circumstantial
Circumstance
N circumstance, situation, phase, position, posture, attitude, place, point, terms, regime, footing, standing, status, occasion, juncture, conjunctive, contingency, predicament, emergence, emergency, exigency, crisis, pinch, pass, push, occurrence, turning point, bearings, how the land lies, surroundings, context, environment, location, contingency, dependence (uncertainty), causation, attribution, circumstantial, given, conditional, provisional, critical, modal, contingent, incidental, adventitious, limitative, in the circumstances, under the circumstances, the circumstances, conditions, thus, in such wise, accordingly, that being the case, such being the case, in view of the circumstances, that being so, sith, since, seeing that, as matters stand, as things go, as times go, conditionally, provided, if, in case, if so, if so be, if it be so, depending on circumstances, in certain circumstances, under certain conditions, if it so happen, if it so turn out, in the event of, in such a contingency, in such a case, in such an event, provisionally, unless, without, according to circumstances, according to the occasion, as it may happen, as it may turn out, as it may be, as the case may be, as the wind blows, pro re nata, yet are my sins not those of circumstance.For further exploring for "circumstantial" in Webster Dictionary Online
