adventitious \aed-ven-TI-shehs\ (adjective) - 1 : An extraneous part of a system found in an unusual place, as adventitious roots growing from the trunk of a tree; 2 : added extraneously, not inherent or natural, out of place.
"Margaret arrived in a matching skirt and sweater outfit, leather pumps, and an adventitious yellow purse that raised more than one eyebrow."
Latin adventicius "foreign" from adventus "arrival" the past participle of advenire "to arrive, come to" based on ad "(up) to" + venire "to come." This word is visible in English "advent," "adventure," "souvenir," and others. "Venire" goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gwem- "go, come." In Germanic, the [g] became [k] and the [w] disappeared by regular processes, leading to English "come" and German "kommen." Today's word resembles "adventurous" and you might be tempted to confuse the two. Although both derive from the same source, the two words are distinct. The adverb for today's word is "adventitiously" and the noun is "adventitiousness."
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