incident

Definitions

in- (in, onto) + cid (cadere, 'fall') = 'something that falls in.' An incident is an event that 'falls into' the course of things — most often used for the notable or unwelcome kind (a security incident, a border incident). The adjective sense 'incident to' (naturally accompanying) and the physics 'incident' ray (light falling onto a surface) come straight from the literal 'falling onto.' Note: here in- means 'in/onto,' not the negative in-.

Why It Means This

Incident is the quieter cousin of accident. Both come from cadere 'to fall,' but accident (ad- 'toward') drifted toward harm and bad luck, while incident (in- 'onto') stayed closer to the neutral idea of 'something that fell into the events' — an occurrence. That's why an incident need not be bad: it's any noteworthy happening. The physics sense (incident light) is the most literal survivor: a ray quite simply falling onto a surface.

Common Collocations

• 1.a minor incident小事件
• 2.without incident平安无事地
• 3.security incident安全事件
• 4.report an incident报告事件
• 5.isolated incident孤立事件

Example Sentences

• 1.

  Police are investigating the incident that occurred last night.

• 2.

  The flight landed without incident.

• 3.

  There was a minor incident at the border crossing.

Easily Confused

incident vs. accident: an incident is simply 'something that happened,' often deliberate, hostile, or merely notable, and not necessarily harmful (a security incident). An accident is unplanned and usually causes harm (a car accident). Noteworthy event → incident; unplanned harm → accident.