Added 9 October 2026
casualty
/ˈkaʒʊ.əlti/ noun
Latin root: casualitas Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about casualty at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- Something that happens by chance, especially an unfortunate event; an accident, a disaster.
- A person suffering from injuries or who has been killed due to an accident or through an act of violence.
- Specifically, a person who has been killed (not only injured) due to an accident or through an act of violence; a fatality.
Origin
From casual, from Middle French casuel, from Medieval Latin casualitas and Late Latin cāsuālis (“happening by chance”), from Latin cāsus (“event”) (English case), from cadere (“to fall”). Originally meaning “a chance event” (compare casual, as in “casual encounter”), it developed a negative meaning as “an unfortunate event”, especially the loss of a person.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)