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circunstancial

circumstantial

adjective seer-koons-tahn-SYAHL Rare

Origin: Latin circumstantia (surrounding conditions)

Usage Note

Circunstancial appears most in legal and journalistic Spanish: prueba circunstancial (circumstantial evidence). It is invariable in gender but takes a plural -es: circunstanciales. Unlike its English cognate it rarely appears in casual speech, where casual or accidental are preferred.

Examples

"La policía solo tiene prueba circunstancial."

Natural Translation

The police only have circumstantial evidence.

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