penumbral

1. (linguistics, law) Connected to a term, but not essential to its meaning.Examples: "The meaning of the term 'preventive or enforcement action' has prompted considerable discussion. Given the lack of practice under Art. 5, the depth and detail of this debate may be surprising. As will be shown, the core meaning of the term seems clear enough, and while there are some doubts about the penumbral meaning, the Organization's unwillingness or inability to apply Art. 5 means that this is unlikely to be particularly relevant."; "One might argue that this gun culture is flatly irrelevant to the interpretation of the Second Amendment, at least to the degree that it is rooted in recreational pursuits like hunting that are penumbral to the self-defense right recognized in Heller."Synonyms: accidentalAntonyms: corenot-comparable