I.sup., 3, v. n. cado, to fall upon or down upon a thing, to reach it by falling.
I. Lit.
A. In gen. constr. with ad, in, local adverbs, with dat. or absol.: utinam ne accidisset abiegna ad terram trabes, Enn. ap. Auct. Her. 2, 22 (Trag. p. 281 ed. Vahl., where it is: accĕdisset, acc. to the MSS., v. Vahl. N. v.): “signa de caelo ad terram,” Plaut. Rud. prol. 8; so, “tam crebri ad terram accidebant quam pira,” id. Poen. 2, 38: trabs in humum accidens, Varr. ap. Non. 494 fin.; so, “imago aetheris ex oris in terrarum accidat oras,” Lucr. 4, 215: “rosa in mensas,” Ov. F. 5, 360: quo Castalia per struices saxeas lapsu accidit, Liv. Andr. ap. Fest. p. 310 Müll. (Rib. Trag. Rel. p. 5): “ut missa tela gravius acciderent,” fall upon, hit, Caes. B. G. 3, 14; so Liv. 2, 50, 7.—
B. Esp.: a. ad genua or genibus, of a suppliant, to fall at one's knees: me orat mulier lacrimansque ad genua accidit, Enn. ap. Non. 517, 15 (Com. v. 9 ed. Vahl.); so Ter. Hec. 3, 3, 18; Suet. Caes. 20; id. Claud. 10; “for which: genibus praetoris,” Liv. 44, 31; “also: ad pedes,” Cic. Att. 1, 14, 5, and absol.: quo accĭdam? quo applicem? Enn. ap. Cic. Tusc. 3, 19, 44 (Trag. v. 114 ed. Vahl., where it is accĕdam).—
C. Transf., to strike the senses, to reach a thing by means of the senses; constr. with ad, the dat. or acc.: vox, sermo accidit ad aurīs (or auribus; also, aurīs alicujus), the voice, the speech falls upon or reaches the ear: nota vox ad aurīs accidit, Att. ap. Non. 39, 5: “nova res molitur ad aurīs accidere,” Lucr. 2, 1024; and: “nihil tam populare ad populi Romani aurīs accidisse,” Cic. Sest. 50, 107: “auribus,” Liv. 24, 46, 5; Quint. 12, 10, 75: “aurīs,” Plaut. Stich. 1, 2, 31; absol., Liv. 10, 5, 2; 27, 15, 16 sq.; Curt. 4, 4, 5 al.; cf. “also: clamor accidit ad aurīs,” Liv. 26, 40, 10; and absol.: “clamor accidit,” id. 4, 33, 9; 40, 32, 2; “likewise: nomen famaque alicujus accidit ad aliquem,” id. 21, 10, 12; v. Fabri ad h. l.—Hence sometimes in Livy: vox or fama accidit (ad aurīs or ad aliquem), with an acc. c. inf.: “ut vox etiam ad hostes accideret captum Cominium esse,” Liv. 10, 41, 7: “quia repente fama accidit classem Punicam adventare,” the report came, id. 27, 29, 7; v. Weissenb. a. h. l.
II. Fig.
A. In gen., to fall out, come to pass, happen, occur; and with dat. pers., to happen to, to befall one. (The distinction between the syn. evenio, accido, and contingo is this: evenio, i. e. ex-venio, is used of either fortunate or unfortunate events: accido, of occurrences which take us by surprise; hence it is used either of an indifferent, or, which is its general use, of an unfortunate occurrence: contingo, i. e. contango, indicates that an event accords with one's wishes; and hence is generally used of fortunate events. As Isid. says, Differ. 1: Contingunt bona: accidunt mala: eveniunt utraque): “res accidit,” Caes. B. G. 1, 14; “Id acciderat, ut Galli consilium caperent,” ib. 3, 2: “si quid adversi acciderit,” Cic. Ac. 2, 38, 121; cf. ib. 1, 26, 57: “nollem accidisset tempus, in quo, etc.,” id. Fam. 3, 10: “si qua calamitas accidisset,” Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 55: id. Rosc. Am. 34: “contra opinionem accidit,” Caes. B. G. 3, 9: “pejus Sequanis accidit,” ib. 1, 31: “periculum accidit,” ib. 3, 3: “detrimentum accidit,” ib. 7, 52. Also of fortunate occurrences: “omnia tibi accidisse gratissima,” Cic. Fam. 3, 1; 11, 15: “accidit satis opportune,” Caes. B. G. 4, 22; cf. Brem. Nep. Milt. 1, 1; Herz. Caes. B. G. 7, 3.—Constr. with ut (Zumpt, § 621), sometimes with quod: “accidit perincommode, quod eum nusquam vidisti,” Cic. Att. 1, 17; or with inf.: “nec enim acciderat mihi opus esse,” id. Fam. 6, 11. Pleonast. in narrations: accidit ut, it happened, or came to pass, that: accidit ut una nocte omnes Hermae dejicerentur, it happened that, etc., Nep. Alc. 3, 2; so Cic. Fam. 3, 8, 8; id. Att. 1, 5, 4 al.—
B. In part.
1. Si quid cui accidat, or si quid humanitus accidat, euphemist. for to die; if any thing should happen to one (for which Ennius says: “si quid me fuerit humanitus, Ann. v. 128 ed. Vahl.): si quid pupillo accidisset,” Cic. Inv. 2, 21; Caes. B. G. 1, 18; “si quid mihi humanitus accidisset,” Cic. Phil. 1, 4; Dig. 34, 4, 30 § 2 al. (cf. the Greek εἴ τι πάθοι); so, per aposiopesin, sive—quod heu timeo, sive superstes eris, Ov. Her. 13, 164. (But Cic. Mil. 22, 58; Caes. B. G. 2, 35, and similar passages, are to be taken in the usual signif.)—
2. To turn out (this very rare): “timeo “incertum” hoc quorsum accidat,” Ter. And. 1, 5, 29: “si secus acciderit,” Cic. Fam. 6, 21, 2. —