accessory, a. and n.
(ˈæksɪsərɪ, ækˈsɛsərɪ)
[ad. late L. accēssōri-us adj., f. accēssōr, agent noun f. accēd-ĕre; see accede v., and -ory.]
For the variant pronunciations, of which ˈaccessory is historical and etymological (cf. ˈpromissory), see accessary.
A. adj.
1. a. Of things: Coming as an accession; contributing in an additional and hence subordinate degree; additional, extra, adventitious. spec. accessory (food) factor.
| 1618 Bolton Florus ii. ix. 122 The Iles in that Sea..accessory members of the ætolian Warre. 1726 Ayliffe Parergon 21 A Principal obligation extinguishes an Accessory obligation if they do both concur in one and the same Person. 1842 A. Gray Struct. Bot. (1880) iii. §2. 44 Accessory Buds. These are..multiplications of the regular axillary bud. 1872 Huxley Physiol. vi. 139 To distinguish the essential food-stuffs or proteids from the accessory food-stuffs or fats and amyloids. 1875 Ouseley Mus. Form v. 38 Accessory passages may be added to either, or both, of the principal themes. 1912 F. G. Hopkins in Jrnl. Physiol. XLIV. 425 (title) Feeding Experiments Illustrating the Importance of Accessory Factors in Normal Dietaries. 1919 Lancet 23 Aug. 338/1 The kind and degree of accessory factors in the common dietary. Ibid., It would be interesting to discover whether they [sc. pickles] fill a gap also by supplying accessory food factors. |
b. accessory nerve, the eleventh cranial nerve.
| 1842 Dunglison Dict. Med. Sci. (ed. 3) 15/2 Accessory ligament, muscle, nerve, &c. 1858 Gray Anatomy 496 The Spinal Accessory Nerve consists of two parts. 1950 R.-M. S. Heffner Gen. Phonetics 41 The velum and uvula are controlled, in part at least, by fibers from the accessory, or eleventh cranial nerve. |
c. accessory chromosome = sex chromosome (sex n.).
| 1902 C. E. McClung in Biol. Bull. III. 43 (title) The Accessory Chromosome—Sex Determinant? Ibid. 72 My conception of the function exercised by the accessory chromosome is that it is the bearer of..the faculty of producing sex cells. |
2. Aiding in a crime, privy; = accessary B 1 (the better spelling in this sense).
| 1607 Mis. Enforced Marriage ii. in Hazl. Dodsl. IX. 506 Thyself a murderer, thy wife accessory. 1751 Smollett Per. Pic. (1779) II. xlvi. 86 We shall be accessory to the ruin of this enslaved people. 1818 Scott Rob Roy 121 He charged me with being accessory to the felony. |
B. n. [The Scotch form accessor is adopted directly from Fr. accessoire: L'accessoire suit le principal. Littré.]
1. An accessory thing; something contributing in a subordinate degree to a general result or effect; an adjunct, or accompaniment. spec. (in pl.): the smaller articles of (esp. a woman's) dress, as shoes, gloves, etc.; minor fittings or attachments for a motor-car, etc. Occas. in sing.
| 1549 Compl. of Scot. (1872) xiii. 112 Ȝour particular veil is bot ane accessor of ȝour comont veil [= common weal] ande the accessor follouis the natur of the prencipal. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 70 All pleasures else, I Accessories call. 1726 Ayliffe Parergon 21 If a Man sells a House, the Glass-Windows thereunto belonging are said to be sold as an Accessory. 1847 Dickens Haunted Man (C.D. ed.) 222 Seasoning..is an accessory dreamily suggesting pork. 1859 Gullick & Timbs Painting 129 Accessories are those objects in a picture, auxiliary or accessorial to the general effect, but apart from the principal subject or figure. 1882 Daily Tel. 16 May 2 No mansion in Belgravia is better provided in all the accessories of luxurious ease. 1896 Beerbohm Dandies & Dandies in Wks. 4 The many little golden chains..would have seemed vulgar to Mr. Brummell. For is it not to his fine scorn of accessories that we may trace that first aim of dandyism, the production of the supreme effect through means the least extravagant? 1902 [see chicken-brooding s.v. chicken n.1 7]. 1958 Woman's Own 5 Nov. 10/1 She was wearing a pastel green suit with white accessories. 1961 John O' London's 23 Feb. 212/4 Writing about a woman's ‘accessories’ (gloves, handbag, umbrella, shoes). 1962 Observer 2 Dec. 31/1 Most important accessories..Heater..screen-washers..fog-lights..loose covers..cigar-lighter. |
2. Of persons: = accessary A 1 (the more usual and better spelling in this sense).
| 1602 Choose a Good Wife v. iii. in Hazlitt Dodsley IX. 93 For justifiers are all accessories, And accessories have deserv'd to die. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 520 Transformed Alike, to serpents all, as accessories To his bold riot. 1726 Ayliffe Parergon 21 A man that gives Aid, Counsel, or Assistance unto any Crime, is..an Accessory thereunto. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 288 But that he was an accessory after the fact no human being could doubt. |
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Add: A. [1.] d. accessory mineral Petrogr., a mineral whose presence or absence in a particular rock is disregarded for purposes of identification.
| 1882 A. Geikie Text-bk. Geol. 61 Minerals may either be essential or accessory, original or secondary constituents of rocks. 1931 A. Johannsen Descr. Petrogr. I. ii. 28 In some cases the accessory minerals are of unusual interest or they have become so prominent that they are conspicuous. 1971 Sci. Amer. Oct. 50/3 A number of other minerals, including metallic iron, are found in concentrations below 1 percent. Eight of these ‘accessory’ minerals are the most important. 1990 C. Pellant Rocks, Minerals & Fossils 11/2 Accessory minerals found in granite include sphere, magnetite and apatite. |
e. accessory cell, (a) Bot. = subsidiary cell s.v. subsidiary a. and n. A. 1 c; (b) Immunol., any of various cells of the immune system that interact with T lymphocytes in the initiation of the immune response.
| 1892 A. A. Crozier Dict. Bot. Terms 2/2 Accessory cell, the sister-cell of a guard-cell; subsidiary cell. 1965 K. Esau Plant Anat. (ed. 2) vii. 158 In many plants two or more of the cells adjacent to the guard cells appear to be associated functionally with them... Such cells are called subsidiary, or accessory, cells. 1974 Jrnl. Immunol. Methods V. 239 Passage of mouse spleen cells through a column of Sephadex G-10 beads results in the selective retention of antibody-forming cells and of accessory cells required for in vitro induction of primary and secondary humoral immune responses. 1981 Jrnl. Exper. Med. CLIV. 1005 Our interest centers on defining the immunogenic unit recognized by primed T cells, as distinct from any accessory cell requirements for stimulation by these two forms of antigen. |