circumstantial en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /səɹ.kəmˈstænʃəl/ (General-American)
- /səːkəmˈstanʃəl/ (UK)
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der. Ancient Greek κίρκος (kírkos)bor. Latin circus Latin circum Latin circum- Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti Proto-Indo-European *sth₂éh₁yeti Proto-Italic *staējō Proto-Italic *staēō Latin stō Latin circumstō Latin circumstāns Latin circumstantia Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālisbor. Old French -albor. ▲ Latin -ālis Old French -elbor. ▲ Latin -ālisbor. Middle English -al English -al English circumstantial From Latin circumstantia + English -al, equivalent to circumstance + -ial.
Meanings
-
Pertaining to or dependent on circumstances, especially as opposed to essentials; incidental, not essential.
Evidence for cannibalism abounds - even if circumstantial - both from the modern world and throughout history, but academic anthropology has found itself in a funk of denial.
2000 September 7, Henry Gee, “Eating people - is it bad taste?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 09 May 2014:We must therefore distinguish between the essentials in religious worship […] and what is merely circumstantial.
1754, John Sharp, Sermons:
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Involving evidence that relies on inference to connect it to a conclusion of fact, thus, suggesting guilt but not directly proving it.
Never, he said, in the course of his long experience, had he known a charge of murder rest on slighter evidence. Not only was it entirely circumstantial, but the greater part of it was practically unproved.
1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 162:It is unlikely he will be convicted; the evidence against him is circumstantial at best.
-
Abounding with minor circumstances; in great detail; particular.
For although my information appears too direct and circumstantial to be fictitious, yet the magnitude of the enterprise, the desperation of the plan, and the stupendous consequences with which it seems pregnant, stagger my belief […]
1806, James Wilkinson, Letter to Thomas Jefferson (October 21, 1806) (part of Burr conspiracy)My Unkle's account is more circumstantial I must confess—but I believe mine is the true one for all that.
1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, V.ii:Second-hand but clearly from the best possible source - the King himself - [the story] is highly circumstantial, taking twenty-two pages of text.
2007, John Burrow, A History of Histories, Penguin, published 2009, page 326:
- Full of circumstance or pomp; ceremonial.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more circumstantial | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most circumstantial | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Antonyms
certain · necessary · impossible · inevitable
Deriveds
circumstantiality · circumstantial evidence · uncircumstantial · noncircumstantial · circumstantiate · circumstantially · circumstantialness
Relateds
Synonyms
accidental · incidental · secondary · coincidental · happenstantial · circumstantial · coinstantial · contingent
Translations (31)
es indiciario (suggesting guilty but not proving it) · de auf Indizienbeweisen beruhend (suggesting guilty but not proving it) · de umstandsbezogen (pertaining to circumstances) · ga beacht (abounding with circumstances; minute in details) · cmn 隨情況而定的 /随情况而定的 (pertaining to circumstances) · es minucioso (abounding with circumstances; minute in details) · de Indizienbeweis (suggesting guilty but not proving it) · cmn 儀式性的 /仪式性的 (full of pomp) · fi aiheeseen liittyvä (pertaining to circumstances) · fi aihe- (see: aihetodiste) (suggesting guilty but not proving it) · de umstandsmäßig (pertaining to circumstances) · de ausführlich (abounding with circumstances; minute in details) · cmn 詳盡的 /详尽的 (abounding with circumstances; minute in details) · de umständlich (abounding with circumstances; minute in details) · ru обстоя́тельный (abounding with circumstances; minute in details) · fi yksityiskohtainen (abounding with circumstances; minute in details) · no omstendelig (abounding with circumstances; minute in details) · de Indiz (suggesting guilty but not proving it) · ru дета́льный (abounding with circumstances; minute in details) · fi epäolennainen (pertaining to circumstances) · de detailliert (abounding with circumstances; minute in details) · es pomposo (full of pomp) · fi juhlava (full of pomp) · de Indizien (suggesting guilty but not proving it) · cmn 間接證據的 /间接证据的 (suggesting guilty but not proving it) · fi juhlallinen (full of pomp) · es circunstancial (pertaining to circumstances) · tl kapangyayari (abounding with circumstances; minute in details) · de weitschweifig (abounding with circumstances; minute in details) · de anscheinsmäßig (suggesting guilty but not proving it) · ca circumstancial (pertaining to circumstances)