happenchancen.adj.
/ˈhap(ə)ntʃans/, /ˈhap(ə)ntʃɑːns/, U.S. /ˈhæpənˌtʃæns/ Originally regional and colloquial.
A. n.
A chance occurrence; (good or bad) fortune, chance, luck. Cf. happenstance n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > [noun] > chance or fortuitous event
adventure?c1225
hapc1275
chancea1300
fortunea1375
accidenta1398
casualtya1513
to-fall1562
withfall1562
casual1566
casuality1574
stour1583
upcasta1616
contingency1620
haphazard1651
contingence1660
unaccountable1789
happen-so1816
happenchance1847
happenstance1857
1847 J. Wright Anacreontic Poems 11 Guisbro' Spa... Then down came the barrow, and Clark on his back, But this was a base happen-chance.
1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby Happen-chance, or Happen-keease, a matter of casual occurrence.
1911 Dial. Notes 3 544 Happenchance, happenstance, happening, circumstance. Used facetiously. Blend-formations.
1941 Sat. Evening Post 22 Mar. 24/3 Even if by happen-chance a hailstorm didn't come along and ruin the crop, there was always something to fight.
1946 M. C. Self Horseman's Encycl. 306 The introduction of polo to England was pure happen-chance.
1995 S. K. Penman When Christ & His Saints Slept (1996) xxxv. 467 It may have been no more than happenchance, sheer good fortune.
B. adj. (chiefly attributive).
Characterized by or resulting from chance or luck; random, haphazard.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > [adjective]
byc1050
casualc1374
fortuitc1374
fortunelc1374
fortunousc1374
causelessc1386
adventurousc1405
accidental1502
fortunable1509
happya1522
chanceable1549
occasional1569
accidentary1581
emergent1593
streave1598
contingent1604
happening1621
incidental1644
lucky1648
sporadical1654
temerarious1660
spontaneous1664
incidentarya1670
chance1676
antrin?1725
fortuitous1806
sporadic1821
windfall1845
chanced1853
blind1873
happenchance1905
happenstance1905
the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > [adjective] > random or haphazard
uncertain1303
casualc1460
haphazard1576
roving1577
hazardous1585
chanceful1594
firmless1605
random1655
temerarious1660
aleatory1693
contingent1703
unlawed1789
by the way1846
chancy1860
fluky1880
hitty-missy1885
perchance1891
happenchance1905
happenstance1905
willy-nilly1933
1905 N.-Y. Tribune 15 Apr. 6/ The happen-chance methods of the prospector with a shovel and a pan.
1961 W. Brandon Indians (1987) xii. 323 The Plains Indian is an excellent happenchance choice as an Indian symbol.
1996 N. W. S. Cranfield in C. Cross Patronage & Recruitm. in Tudor & Early Stuart Church 132 The survival of an interim list..is too happenchance to allow for any far-reaching conclusions.
2007 Anthropol. Q. 80 719 The happenchance association between the Churchills, a lehakat ketzev [= ‘beat group’], and Arik Einstein, a well-known Ashkenazi singer.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1847