# accessory
## English
### Alternative forms

* accessary

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA: /əkˈsɛs(ə)ɹi/, /ækˈsɛs(ə)ɹi/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Homophone: accessary

### Etymology 1

From Medieval Latin accessōrius, from Latin accessor (“helper, subordinate”), from accessus. Compare access, from same root.

#### Adjective

accessory (comparative more accessory, superlative most accessory)
* Having a secondary, supplementary or subordinate function by accompanying as a subordinate; aiding in a secondary way; being additional; contributing or being contributory. [from 1550s]
    accessory garments
    Surprise parties succeed with the help of accessory neighbors or colleagues.
** 1641 May, John Milton, Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England: And the Cavvses that hitherto have Hindred it; republished as Will Taliaferro Hale, editor, Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England (Yale Studies in English; LIV), New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1916, →OCLC, 2nd book, page 48:Amongst many secondary, and accessory causes that support Monarchy, these are not of least reckning, […]
* (law) Assisting a crime without actually participating in committing the crime itself; being connected as an incident or subordinate to a principal.
    Hypernym: accomplice
    Coordinate term: principal
    Her actions were clearly accessory because they helped him commit and probably also conceal the crime.
* Present in a minor amount, and not essential.
    accessory mineral

##### Usage notes

* (secondary, supplementary): Said of things and actions, very rarely of people (and then usually in a humorous version of the legal sense, or due to confusion between the noun and the adjective).

##### Synonyms

* (having a secondary function): accompanying, contributory, auxiliary, subsidiary, subservient, additional, acceding

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

From Middle English accessorie, from Medieval Latin accessōrius, from Latin accessor (“helper, subordinate”), from accessus. Compare access, from same root.

#### Noun

accessory (plural accessories)
* Something that belongs to part of another main thing; something additional and subordinate, an attachment.
    the accessories of a mobile phone
** 1851, Thomas Carlyle, The Life of John Sterling, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC:the aspect and accessories of a den of banditti
* (fashion) An article that completes one's basic outfit, such as a scarf or gloves. [from 1896]
** 2018 June 5, Jonah Engel Bromwich, Vanessa Friedman, Matthew Schneier, “Kate Spade, whose handbags carried women into adulthood, is dead at 55”, in The New York Times‎, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 6 June 2018:One of the first of a wave of American women contemporary designers who emerged in the 1990s, she [Kate Spade] built a brand on the appeal of clothes and accessories that made shoppers smile.
* (law) A person who is not present at a crime, but contributes to it as an assistant or instigator. [from 1414]
    She was an accessory to the murder because she helped him commit and probably also conceal the crime.
** 2005, Jennifer Worth, Shadows of the Workhouse, Weidenfeld & Nicholson (2009), page 150:“You can be an accessory before the fact, or an accessory after the fact. It doesnʼt matter if itʼs before or after; either way youʼd be in for it.”
* (art) Something in a work of art without being indispensably necessary, for example solely ornamental parts.

##### Synonyms

* (something that belongs to part of another main thing): accompaniment, addition, attachment, supplement; See also Thesaurus:adjunct
* (one who assists in or instigates an offense): abettor, accomplice, ally, coadjutor, accessary

##### Derived terms

* accessorial
* accessorily
* accessoriness
* accessorist
* accessorize
* accessory after the fact
* accessory battery
* accessory before the fact
* accessory breathing
* accessory cloud
* accessory equipment
* accessory fruit
* accessoryless
* accessory mineral
* accessory nerve
* accessory pigment
* accessoryship
* accessory shoe
* Cambodian accessory
* nonaccessory
* sexcessory
* unaccessory
* vagoaccessory

##### Descendants

* → Hebrew: אַקְסֵסוֹרִי (aksésori)
* → Japanese: アクセサリー (akusesarī)
* → Korean: 액세서리 (aekseseori)

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### References

* “accessory”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* 1 2 Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “accessory (adj.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
* 1 2 Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “accessory (n.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
* ↑ “accessō̆rie, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
* 1 2 “accessory, n. and adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.