accessory

UK: /ækˈsɛsəri/ US: /ækˈsɛsəri/ ,(ak ses′ə rē)

Inflections of 'accessory' (n): npl: accessories

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

ac•ces•so•ry /ækˈsɛsəri/   n. [countable] , pl. -ries. 

1. an extra part that improves or completes the basic part:
   The car's accessories included a CD player.
2. Law Law. a person who, although absent, assists in committing a felony.

See -cess-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

ac•ces•so•ry  (ak ses′ə rē), n., pl. -ries, adj. 
n. 

1. a subordinate or supplementary part, object, or the like, used mainly for convenience, attractiveness, safety, etc., as a spotlight on an automobile or a lens cover on a camera.
2. Clothing an article or set of articles of dress, as gloves, earrings, or a scarf, that adds completeness, convenience, attractiveness, etc., to one's basic outfit.
3. Law
   • Also called acces′sory before′ the fact′. a person who, though not present during the commission of a felony, is guilty of having aided and abetted another, who committed the felony.
   • Also called acces′sory af′ter the fact′. a person who knowingly conceals or assists another who has committed a felony. Cf. principal (def. 9b).
4. Anatomy See accessory nerve. 

adj. 

5. contributing to a general effect;
   supplementary;
   subsidiary.
6. Law giving aid as an accessory.
7. Rocks [Petrog.] noting any mineral whose presence in a rock has no bearing on the classification of the rock, as zircon in granite.

• Medieval Latin accessōrius. See accede, -tory¹
• Middle French)
• late Middle English accessorie (1400–50

ac•ces′so•ri•ly, adv. 
ac•ces′so•ri•ness, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. See addition. 
• 3. accomplice.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

accessory / əkˈsɛsərɪ/ noun ( -ries)

1. a supplementary part or object, as of a car, appliance, etc
2. (often plural) a small accompanying item of dress, esp of women's dress
3. a person who incites someone to commit a crime or assists the perpetrator of a crime, either before or during its commission

adjective

1. supplementary; additional; subordinate
2. assisting in or having knowledge of an act, esp a crime

Etymology: 17th Century: from Late Latin accessōrius: see access

accessorial / ˌæksɛˈsɔːrɪəl/ adjective

acˈcessorily adverb