inadvertence - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle French inadvertance.

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inadvertence (countable and uncountable, plural inadvertences)

1. The state or quality of being inadvertent; inadvertency; heedlessness; carelessness; negligence.
   Many mistakes proceed from inadvertence.
2. An effect or result of inattention; an oversight or mistake from negligence.
   • 1990, Gerald Burns, A thing about language, page 64:
     The size is an inadvertence like the tailor's stitches, to allow a style to emerge.