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extraneous
adjective

- not directly connected with or related to something

(Cambridge Dictionaries)

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Extraneous is a 17th century word from the Latin "extraneus" (external, strange) and further from the Latin "extra," meaning outside of. Although the Latin "extra" was only recorded in classical Latin in the term "extraordinarious," it was frequently used in Medieval Latin and in some modern formations.

From the Latin extraneous we also get the word "strange" by way of the Old French estrange (foreign, alien, unusual, unfamiliar, curious; distant; inhospitable; estranged, separated) and the Modern French étrange. It's also the source of related words in Italian (strano) and Spanish (estrano).

Extraneous is used in several slightly different contexts:

1) irrelevant or unrelated to the subject being dealt with

It's a good report, but he makes you read through many pages of extraneous material.

2) of external origin

We can't listen to the radio because of the extraneous interference.

3) separate from the object to which it is attached

The process first cleans the coffee beans to remove any extraneous material.

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SYNONYMS

additional, immaterial, incidental, superfluous, unessential, needless, unrelated, unconnected, beside the point, off the subject, external, alien, strange, inapplicable, out of place

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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation

"Most people have lots of extraneous software on their computer."

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Thanks to Sabine for suggesting today's word!