casualty
Meanings
Plural: casualties
Noun
- someone injured or killed or captured or missing in a military engagement
- someone injured or killed in an accident
- an accident that causes someone to die
- a decrease of military personnel or equipment
- 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.
- A person in military service who becomes unavailable for duty, for any reason (notably death, injury, illness, capture, or desertion).
- Clipping of casualty department: the accident and emergency department of a hospital providing immediate treatment.
- An incidental charge or payment.
- Someone or something adversely affected by a decision, event or situation.
- Chance nature; randomness.
Origin / Etymology
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.
Synonyms
;, A&E, accident and emergency, casualty department, casualty ward, E. R., E.R., emergency, emergency department, emergency room, emergency ward, ER, fatal accident, fortune, injured party, luck
Scrabble Score: 13
casualty is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordcasualty is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
casualty is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary