Etymograph

English

incident

Incident comes from Middle French incident, from Latin incidēns, the participle of incidō ‘to happen’, from cadō ‘to fall’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱad-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱad-1‘to fall’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱád-e-ti2reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kadō3‘to fall’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcadō1‘to fall’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEincidō1‘to happen’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEincidēns1‘happening’present active participle of incidō
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600incident1
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1671incident1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English incident
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *kadō
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin cado
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes, […].: “All chances incident to mans frail life.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱad-Wiktionary, English incident‘to fall’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱád-e-tiWiktionary, Proto-Italic *kadōreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kadōWiktionary, Latin cado‘to fall’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcadōWiktionary, English incident‘to fall’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEincidōWiktionary, English incident‘to happen’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEincidēnsWiktionary, English incident‘happening’present active participle of incidō
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600incidentWiktionary, English incident
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1671incidentWiktionary, English incident. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes, […].: “All chances incident to mans frail life.”

The story

Recorded since 1412, from Middle French incident, from Latin incidens, the present active participle of incidō (‘to happen, befall’), itself from in- (‘on’) + -cidō, the combining form of cadō (‘to fall’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱh₂d-

casual, cascade, coincidence, decadence, 2 more

through Latin cadō ‘to fall’

case, chance, occasion, cheat, accident, decay, casualty, cadaver, coincide, cadence, deciduous, decadent, recidivism, occidental, occident, 16 more

through Latin incidō ‘to happen, befall’

incision, incisive, incisor, 2 more

Today it means

noun An event or occurrence.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “incident”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Italic *kadō, Latin cado. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱad- / incident

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