c.1374, "subject to or produced by chance," from O.Fr. casuel, from L.L. casualis "by chance," from L. casus "chance, event" (see case (1)). Of persons, in the sense of "not to be depended on, unmethodical," it is attested from 1883. Casualty in the modern military sense is 1844, from the word's older sense of "accident" (1423).
marked by blithe unconcern; "an ability to interest casual students"; "showed a casual disregard for cold weather"; "an utterly insouciant financial policy"; "an elegantly insouciant manner"; "drove his car with nonchalant abandon"; "was polite in a teasing nonchalant manner"
2.
without or seeming to be without plan or method; offhand; "a casual remark"; "information collected by casual methods and in their spare time"
3.
appropriate for ordinary or routine occasions; "casual clothes"; "everyday clothes"
4.
occurring or appearing or singled out by chance; "seek help from casual passers-by"; "a casual meeting"; "a chance occurrence"
5.
hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough; "a casual (or cursory) inspection failed to reveal the house's structural flaws"; "a passing glance"; "perfunctory courtesy"
6.
occurring from time to time; "casual employment"; "a casual correspondence with a former teacher"; "an occasional worker"
7.
characterized by a feeling of irresponsibility; "a broken back is nothing to be casual about; it is no fooling matter" [syn: fooling]
8.
natural and unstudied; "using their Christian names in a casual way"; "lectured in a free-and-easy style" [syn: free-and-easy]
9.
not showing effort or strain; "a difficult feat performed with casual mastery"; "careless grace"
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This Main Entry: ca·su·al Function: adjective 1 a: not expected or foreseen b: not done purposefully :ACCIDENTAL 2 a: employed for irregular periods <a casual worker> b: engaging in anactivity on an occasional basis <a casual seller>
Ac`ci*den"tal\, a. [Cf. F. accidentel, earlier accidental.]1. Happening by chance, or unexpectedly; taking place not according to the usual course of things; casual; fortuitous; as, an accidental visit. 2. Nonessential; not necessary belonging; incidental; as, are accidental to a play. Accidental chords (Mus.), those which contain one or more tones foreign to their proper harmony. Accidental colors (Opt.), colors depending on the hypersensibility of the retina of the eye for complementary colors. They are purely subjective sensations of color which often result from the contemplation of actually colored bodies. Accidental point (Persp.), the point in which a right line, drawn from the eye, parallel to a given right line, cuts the perspective plane; so called to distinguish it from the principal point, or point of view, where a line drawn from the eye perpendicular to the perspective plane meets this plane. Accidental lights (Paint.), secondary lights; effects of light other than ordinary daylight, such as the rays of the sun darting through a cloud, or between the leaves of trees; the effect of moonlight, candlelight, or burning bodies. --Fairholt. Syn: Casual; fortuitous; contingent; occasional; adventitious. Usage: Accidental, Incidental, Casual, Fortuitous, Contingent. We speak of a thing as accidental when it falls out as by chance, and not in the regular course of things; as, an accidental meeting, an accidental advantage, etc. We call a thing incidental when it falls, as it were, into some regular course of things, but is secondary, and forms no essential part thereof; as, an incremental remark, an incidental evil, an incidental benefit. We speak of a thing as casual, when it falls out or happens, as it were, by mere chance, without being prearranged or premeditated; as, a casual remark or encounter; a casual observer. An idea of the unimportant is attached to what is casual. Fortuitous is applied to what occurs without any known cause, and in opposition to what has been foreseen; as, a fortuitous concourse of atoms. We call a thing contingent when it is such that, considered in itself, it may or may not happen, but is dependent for its existence on something else; as, the time of my coming will be contingent on intelligence yet to be received.
Cas"u*al\, a. [OE. casuel, F. casuel, fr. L. casualis, fr. casus fall, accident, fr. cadere to fall. See Case.]1. Happening or coming to pass without design, and without being foreseen or expected; accidental; fortuitous; coming by chance. Casual breaks, in the general system. --W. Irving. 2. Coming without regularity; occasional; incidental; as, casual expenses. A constant habit, rather than a casual gesture. --Hawthorne. Syn: Accidental; fortutious; incidental; occasional; contingent; unforeseen. See Accidental.
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