accessory

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A subordinate or supplementary item; an adjunct.
2. n. Something nonessential but desirable that contributes to an effect or result. See Synonyms at appendage.
3. n. Law One who incites, aids, or abets a lawbreaker in the commission of a crime but is not present at the time of the crime. Also called accessory before the fact.
4. n. Law One who aids a criminal after the commission of a crime, but was not present at the time of the crime. Also called accessory after the fact.
5. adj. Having a secondary, supplementary, or subordinate function.
6. adj. Law Serving to aid or abet a lawbreaker, either before or after the commission of the crime, without being present at the time the crime was committed.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. (Of persons.) Acceding; contributing; aiding in producing some effect, or acting in subordination to the principal agent: usually in a bad sense: as, accessory to a felony. Technically, in law, it implies aiding without being present at the act.
2. (Of things.) Contributing to a general effect; aiding in certain acts or effects in a secondary manner; belonging to something else as principal; accompanying: as, accessory sounds in music; accessory muscles. Additional, or of the nature of an appendage: as, accessory buds are developed by the side of or above the normal axillary bud.
3. n. In law, one who is guilty of a felony, not by committing the offense in person or as a principal, nor by being present at its commission, but by being in some other way concerned therein, as by advising or inciting another to commit the crime, or by concealing the offender or in any way helping him to escape punishment. An accessory before the fact is one who counsels or incites another to commit a felony, and who is not present when the act is done; after the fact, one who receives and conceals, or in any way assists, the offender, knowing him to have committed a felony. In high treason and misdemeanor, by English law, there are no accessories, all implicated being treated as principals. See abetter.
4. n. That which accedes or belongs to something else as its principal; a subordinate part or object; an accompaniment.
5. n. In the fine arts, an object represented which is not a main motive or center of interest, but is introduced to balance the composition or in some way enhance its artistic effectiveness. In a portrait, for example, everything but the figure is an accessory.
6. n. Synonyms Abetter, accomplice. See the definitions of these words.
7. In the logical system of Lotze, adding (as thought) to the coherence of the matter of thought a notion of the ground of its coherence. See the extract.
8. In geology, noting those minerals which are present in relatively small quantities in a rock and are not mentioned in its definition, such as zircon, apatite, and magnetite in granite: contrasted with essential.
9. n. In organ-building, same as accessory stop.

Wiktionary

1. n. That which belongs to something else deemed the principal; something additional and subordinate, an attachment.
2. n. fashion An article that completes one's basic outfit, such as a scarf or gloves.
3. n. law One who, not being present, contributes as an assistant or instigator to the commission of an offense; One who assists after the commission of a crime, but was not present.
4. n. art Anything that enters into a work of art without being indispensably necessary, as mere ornamental parts.
5. adj. Having a secondary, supplementary or subordinate function by accompanying as a subordinate; aiding in a secondary way; being additional; being connected as an incident or subordinate to a principal; contributing or being contributory. Said of persons and things, and, when of persons, usually in a bad sense; as, he was accessory to the riot; accessory sounds in music.
6. adj. law Assisting a crime without actually participating in committing the crime itself.
7. adj. Present in a minor amount, and not essential.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. adj. Accompanying as a subordinate; aiding in a secondary way; additional; connected as an incident or subordinate to a principal; contributing or contributory; said of persons and things, and, when of persons, usually in a bad sense
2. n. That which belongs to something else deemed the principal; something additional and subordinate.
3. n. (Law) Same as Accessary, n.
4. n. (Fine Arts) Anything that enters into a work of art without being indispensably necessary, as mere ornamental parts.

WordNet 3.0

1. adj. aiding and abetting in a crime
2. n. someone who helps another person commit a crime
3. adj. furnishing added support
4. n. clothing that is worn or carried, but not part of your main clothing
5. n. a supplementary component that improves capability