Category:Occasional

Oc*ca"sion*al, a. Etym: [cf.F. occasionnel.]

1. Of or pertaining to an occasion or to occasions; occuring at Times, but not constant, regular, or systematic; made or happening as Opportunity requires or admits; casual; incidental; as, occasional Remarks, or efforts. The... occasional writing of the present times. Bagehot.

2. Produced by accident; as, the occasional origin of a thing. [obs.] Sir t. Browne. Occasional cause (metaph.), some circumstance Preceding an effect which, without being the real cause, becomes the Occasion of the action of the efficient cause; thus, the act of Touching gunpowder with fire is the occasional, but not the Efficient, cause of an explosion.