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a subordinate or supplementary part, object, or the like, used mainly for convenience, attractiveness, safety, etc., as a spotlight on an automobile or a lens cover on a camera.
an article or set of articles of dress, as gloves, earrings, or a scarf, that adds completeness, convenience, attractiveness, etc., to one’s basic outfit.
Law.

Also called accessory before the fact. a person who, though not present during the commission of a felony, is guilty of having aided and abetted another, who committed the felony.
Also called accessory after the fact. a person who knowingly conceals or assists another who has committed a felony.
Compare (def 9b).

Anatomy, .
contributing to a general effect; supplementary; subsidiary.
Law. giving aid as an accessory.
Petrography. (of a mineral) being present in small amounts in a rock and having no bearing on the classification of the rock, as zircon in granite.
Contemporary Examples

Too many chefs have become heavy-handed with the infusion, using it more as a crutch than an accessory.
6 Food Trends That Should Disappear Jacquelynn D. Powers June 24, 2010

A shift to the accessory position would have also caused the power steering to suddenly quit.
The Cops Who Found Out the Truth About GM’s Deadly Cars—in 2006 Michael Daly July 16, 2014

The 20-year-old model has signed on as the face of Accessorize, a jewelry and accessory chain.
Eva Mendes Launched Fashion Design Career, Kate Upton Scores Another New Job The Fashion Beast Team February 11, 2013

Her husband, Michael Chamberlin, was given a suspended sentence as an accessory after the fact.
Pets or Predators? 10 Things About Australia’s Famous Dog, the Dingo Meredith Kaufman June 12, 2012

An eighth suspect, Pamela Wiggins, has been charged with being an accessory after the fact and is out on $10,000 bond.
The Missing Murder Suspect Rick Outzen July 30, 2009

Historical Examples

That made him, like the Donaldsons, accessory after the fact, and criminally liable.
The Breaking Point Mary Roberts Rinehart

It censured Mrs. McKee severely for having been, so to speak, and accessory after the fact.
K Mary Roberts Rinehart

But don’t you realise that you may be charged with being an accessory before or after the act?
The Daffodil Mystery Edgar Wallace

It is always more or less a question of “an accessory business.”
The Sexual Question August Forel

It is my belief that many so-called good wives have been accessory to making their husbands very bad Christians.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 91, May, 1865 Various

noun (pl) -ries
a supplementary part or object, as of a car, appliance, etc
(often pl) a small accompanying item of dress, esp of women’s dress
a person who incites someone to commit a crime or assists the perpetrator of a crime, either before or during its commission
adjective
supplementary; additional; subordinate
assisting in or having knowledge of an act, esp a crime
n.

also accessary, early 15c. as a legal term in the criminal sense of “one aiding in a crime;” also “that which is subordinate to something else,” from Late Latin accessorius, from accessor, agent noun from accedere (see access (n.)). Attested from 1896 as “woman’s smaller articles of dress,” hence accessorize.
adj.

1550s, “subordinate,” from Late Latin accessorius, from accessor, agent noun from accedere (see access (n.)). Meaning “aiding in crime” is from c.1600.

accessory ac·ces·so·ry (āk-sěs’ə-rē)
adj.

Having a secondary, supplementary, or subordinate function.

Of, relating to, or being a body part, such as a gland, nerve, or muscle, that is anatomically auxiliary.