circumstantial

• POS: Adjective
• HYPHEN: cir=cum=stan=tial

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]

Circumstantial evidence (Law), evidence obtained from circumstances, which necessarily or usually attend facts of a particular nature, from which arises presumption. According to some authorities circumstantial is distinguished from positive evidence in that the latter is the testimony of eyewitnesses to a fact or the admission of a party; but the prevalent opinion now is that all such testimony is dependent on circumstances for its support. All testimony is more or less circumstantial. Wharton.

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.

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, weighty

ROGET 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.