peradventuren.
/ˌpəːrədˈvɛntʃə/, /p(ə)rədˈvɛntʃə/, U.S. /ˌpərədˈvɛn(t)ʃər/, /ˌpɛrədˈvɛn(t)ʃər/ Now archaic.
1. The possibility of a thing being so or not; uncertainty, doubt; a chance, contingency; a risk, hazard. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > unreliability > [noun] > unpredictability > instance of
uncertainty1619
peradventure1627
casualty?1677
anybody's guess1893
guess1958
uncontrollable1977
?c1450 tr. Bk. Knight of La Tour Landry (1906) 56 She ansuered..‘yef we ete of this fruite, perauenture we shull deye’, and thus she putte condicion in her ansuere; but oure Lorde putte ther inne no condicion nor no perauenture.
1595 A. Hartwell tr. G. T. Minadoi Hist. Warres Turkes & Persians iv. 164 He began to fancie within himself, that he should not be able to conclude any thing, and..he was in a peraduenture to returne into Persia againe.
1627 J. Ussher Let. in R. Parr Life J. Usher (1686) Coll. cxxii. 384 This general peradventure might run in St. Hierom's memory.
1636 R. Basset tr. G. A. de Paoli Lives Rom. Emperors 338 Upon better advice, and doubtfull peradventure of the successe.
a1682 Sir T. Browne Christian Morals (1716) i. 8 Covetousness..only affected with the certainty of things present makes a peradventure of things to come.
c1790 W. Cowper Wks. (1837) XV. 335 Some to be saved infallibly, and others to be left to a peradventure.
1858 M. Oliphant Laird of Norlaw I. 251 The Bush and all its peradventures of hardship and solitude.
1871 H. B. Forman Our Living Poets 292 The poem..ends with shadowiness and peradventure.
1924 Amer. Mercury Sept. 58/2 I have conducted experiments which prove beyond the peradventure of a doubt that the disesteem in which the cocktail is held..is due in no small degree to the manner of its serving.
1996 Times (Nexis) 16 Feb. What is, without any possibility of a peradventure, the most hideous building in the history of the world.
2. An adventure. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > undertaking > [noun] > an undertaking > bold or chivalrous
adventurec1300
emprisea1400
exploitc1425
enterprise1442
chevisance1579
peradventure1584
expedience1598
1584 R. Wilson Three Ladies of London i. A iij Faith ile goe seek paraduentures and be a seruing-creature.
1917 T. Hardy Moments of Vision & Misc. Verses 221 Peradventures unsought, Peradventures that finished in nought, Had kept me from youth and through manhood till lately Unwon by its style.
1993 Guardian 11 Mar. (Features section) 16 There was work in military intelligence styled after one of those peradventures by Waugh, although not half so jaundiced.
Phrases
P1. beyond (also †out of, †past, without) (all) peradventure: out of the realm of uncertainty, beyond question, without doubt.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > absence of doubt, confidence > assured fact, certainty > making certain, assurance > of course, certainly [phrase]
to iwissea1000
mid iwissea1000
in wisc1000
to wis(se)c1000
without(en (any) weenc1175
sans fail1297
thereof no strife1297
but werea1300
forouten werea1300
out of werea1300
without werea1300
without deceit1303
for certainc1320
it is to wittingc1320
withouten carec1320
without nayc1330
without noc1330
without (but out of) dread1340
no doubtc1380
without distancec1390
no fresea1400
out of doubta1400
without doubta1400
for, (in, at obs.), of, to (a) certaintyc1400
withouten stance14..
hazel woods shakea1413
of, on, in warrantisec1440
sure enough?1440
without question?1440
wythout diswerec1440
without any dispayrec1470
for (also of) a surety?a1475
in (also for) surenessa1475
of certainc1485
without any (also all) naya1500
out of question?1526
past question?1526
for sure1534
what else1540
beyond (also out of, past, without) (all) peradventure1542
to be a bidden by1549
out of (also without) all cry1565
with a witness1579
upon my word1591
no question1594
out of all suspicion1600
for a certain1608
without scruple1612
to be sure1615
that's pos1710
in course1722
beyond (all) question1817
(and) no mistake1818
no two ways about it (also that)1818
of course1823
bien entendu1844
yessiree1846
you bet you1857
make no mistake1876
acourse1883
sans doute1890
how are you?1918
you bet your bippy1968
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes ii. f. 329 As soone as the matier was clere & out of parauentures.
1576 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent 85 In course of time, the matter was past all peraduenture.
1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. M4v In his good time, without all peraduenture the Lord will looke vpon him.
1639 T. de Gray Compl. Horseman ii. vii. 155 This is an approved cure, and beyond all peradventure.
1660 G. Wither Speculum Speculativum 53 The Doom..will without all peradventure come Upon your heads.
1716 N. W. Hist. George a Green 8 He must be whipp'd without all Peradventures.
1739 W. Melmoth Fitzosborne Lett. (1763) 177 True beyond all peradventure it is.
1855 J. L. Motley Rise Dutch Republic II. iii. ii. 178 This was now proved beyond peradventure.
1866 H. Bushnell Vicarious Sacrifice iii. v. 326 A state of natural punition that is, without a peradventure, endless.
1901 R. M. Bucke in W. James Varieties Relig. Experience (1902) xvi.–xvii. 399 The cosmic order is such that without any peradventure all things work together for the good of each and all.
1986 Dict. National Biogr. 1971–80 at Wilson, Horace John It had been..necessary as a means of gaining time in order to demonstrate the inevitability of war beyond a peradventure.
2003 Financial Times (Nexis) 8 July 23 Corporate governance is only about reducing the cost of capital. If we can't establish that beyond peradventure, then we are wasting our time.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > chance [phrase] > by chance
by perchance1495
at a venture1517
per accidens1528
at hazard (also hazards)a1533
at random1543
by occasion1562
at range1568
by the way1572
by (also at) (a) peradventurea1586
hit or miss1609
at the by1611
hob-nob1660
hit and miss1897
a1586 Answer Cartwright 17 He alleadgeth another proofe by peraduenture.
1591 J. Harington tr. L. Ariosto Orlando Furioso xxxv. vii. 290/2 Nor thinke you this preferment to proceed, By peraduenture, or as it twere by chance.
1633 Bp. J. Hall Plaine Explic. Hard Texts i. 229 The lots are throwne at randome, and at peradventure.
1692 R. South 12 Serm. I. 408 A man by mere peradventure lights into company.
1701 J. Collier tr. Mythol. Pict. Cebes in M. Aurelius Conversat. (1726) 326 For she never acts upon Reason, but throws out every Thing at Peradventure.
1844 J. S. Stone in New Englander (New Haven, Connecticut) Oct. 513/1 Every such believer..is saved, not by chance, or by possibility, or by peradventure, but by promise, and under the oath of the covenant.
1895 A. Lang tr. Monk of Fife xviii. 239 I saw the violet woman..place her finger, as it were by peradventure, on her lips.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
peradventureadv.
/ˌpəːrədˈvɛntʃə/, /p(ə)rədˈvɛntʃə/, U.S. /ˌpərədˈvɛn(t)ʃər/, /ˌpɛrədˈvɛn(t)ʃər/α. Middle English parauenter, Middle English parauentour, Middle English parauentre, Middle English parauentur, Middle English paraventor, Middle English paraventur, Middle English perauentere, Middle English perauentour, Middle English peraventour, Middle English peraventre, Middle English puraventure, Middle English–1500s parauenture, Middle English–1500s paraventure, Middle English–1500s perauentur, Middle English–1600s perauenture, Middle English–1600s peraventure; Scottish pre-1700 parwentour, pre-1700 perauentowr, pre-1700 perauentur, pre-1700 perauenture, pre-1700 peraventier, pre-1700 peraventour, pre-1700 peraventure, pre-1700 perawenture, pre-1700 perventure; N.E.D.(1905) also records a form late Middle English peraventor. c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) 867 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 131 Sire Erchebischop..þov most it do; Oþur þov schalt leose þine bischopriche, and per-Auenture þi lif.c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) John v. 46 Forsoth, if ȝe bileueden to Moyses, perauenture ȝe schulden bileue and to me; sothli he wroot of me.1400 in F. C. Hingeston Royal & Hist. Lett. Reign Henry IV (1860) I. 24 I clayme to be of kyn tyll yhow, and it peraventour nocht knawen on yhour parte.c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. v. 648 Perauenture I be nouȝte knowe þere.a1425 Story Holy Rood (Harl.) 119 in R. Morris Legends Holy Rood (1871) 65 Þan par auenture send sall he Sum of his angels to þat tre.1430 in T. Rymer Fœdera (1710) X. 456 The seid Lords, betwix whom puraventure such division shal falle..be assured to stond..to the Redresse and Rule of the Remenant of the Lords.1437 Rolls of Parl. V. 439/1 There fall among hem variance in opinions, peraventre half ayenst half. ▸ c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 72 Perauentur summe of tho writingis.a1500 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 15th Cent. (1939) 280 Paraventor aftyr A ȝere or tweyne..Thys woord yn wreth thow schalt hyre Agayne.1549 H. Latimer 2nd Serm. before Kynges Maiestie (new ed.) 4th Serm. sig. Kv But parauenture [1549 (ed. 1) peraduenture] you wyll saye What and they preache not at all?1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cxixv Perauenture they wyll saye, it is the right of the churche.1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 25 The pray quhilke perauentur, thay brocht far aff.
β. Middle English parantere, Middle English parantyr, Middle English parauntour, Middle English parauntre, Middle English parauntur, Middle English paravnter, Middle English parawnter, Middle English paunter (probably transmission error), Middle English perantre, Middle English perantur, Middle English perauntere, Middle English perauntir, Middle English perauntire, Middle English perauntre, Middle English perauntur, Middle English peraunture, Middle English perawntyr, Middle English (1800s English regional (Yorkshire) peraunter, Middle English–1500s paraunter, Middle English–1600s peranter, 1500s paranter; N.E.D.(1905) also records forms Middle English parawntre, Middle English perantere. c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) 920 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 133 He þe wole bere on honde, And bi-nime þe þi stat, and perantur bringue þe out of londe.c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 2018 Þat þou miȝt perauntre rome winne.c1390 in C. Horstmann Minor Poems Vernon MS (1892) i. 229 Parauntur go to dampnaciun.c1390 (c1350) Proprium Sanctorum in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1888) 81 302 He..nul not hiȝe..Not ones par auntur in þe wike A pater noster to biseke.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) 26136 Suche man peraunture miȝt him bring in mistrouþ & in mistrowing.1426 Rolls of Parl. V. 410/1 Yf they did the contraire..thagh perauntre thei plesed hym as nowe..he shuld con hem thenne grete maugre therof, and trust hem the lesse. ▸ 1440 Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 393/1 Perawntyr, forte, fortasse, fortassis.a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) 1106 The chyldren han the gylt abouht..Thorgh ther fadrys gylt, allas, And thus peraunter stant the cas.a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) cxxxviii. 10 Et dixi forsitan tenebre conculcabunt me..And i sayde perauntire myrknes sall down trede me.1535 D. Lindsay Satyre 4474 Peranter ar as gauckit fulis as I.1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xi. 135 To say [paraunter for parauenture].1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Peraunter, peradventure.
γ. Middle English peradventour, Middle English–1600s paraduenture, Middle English– peradventure, 1500s paraduentter, 1500s peradventur, 1500s–1700s paradventure; Scottish pre-1700 paraduentuir, pre-1700 peraduentour, pre-1700 peraduentuir, pre-1700 1700s– peradventure. ▸ a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 743 Peradventure there woll be som knyghtes that woll be displeased.a1529 J. Skelton Magnyfycence (?1530) sig. Aii Peraduenture I shall content your mynde.1535 G. Joye Apol. Tindale sig. F.v & paraduenture cal them theirs.1563 N. Winȝet Certain Tractates (1890) II. 30 Paraduentuir he hes spokin thir thingis raschelie.1611 Bible (King James) 1 Kings xviii. 27 Peraduenture he sleepeth, and must be awaked.1714 J. Gay Shepherd's Week Proeme sig. A4v I have chosen (paradventure not overrashly) to name mine by the Days of the Week.1822 Ld. Byron Let. 28 Nov. (1980) X. 42 I..hope to make it last me a year—and perhaps two—and peradventure three.
Now archaic.
1. Expressing a hypothetical, contingent or uncertain possibility: perhaps, maybe, possibly.
a. Qualifying a statement or clause.Used with the subjunctive or its equivalent (peradventure he may be, would be), the future tense (peradventure he will be), and the present or past indicative (peradventure he is, or was there); in the last = ‘it may be the fact that...’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [adverb] > perhaps
is wenc897
wen isc897
peradventurec1300
peradventurec1325
perchancec1350
uphapa1375
percasea1393
lightly1395
in casea1398
maybea1400
may chancea1400
may-falla1400
may-fortunea1400
may-tidea1400
perhapa1464
happen1487
perhapsc1520
percase1523
ablea1525
by chance1526
mayhap1533
fortunea1535
belikelya1551
haps1570
mayhappen1577
perhappen1578
possibly1600
not impossibly1667
ables1673
aunters1673
aiblins1720
p'rapsa1745
aunterens1825
mebbe1825
yes-no1898
yimkin1925
ja-nee1937
c1300 All Souls (Laud) 122 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 424 (MED) Þei heo bidde hire beden at churche, hire þouȝht is athom more; perauenture heo schal it bete þare.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 7373 (MED) Parauntre [v.rr. perauentere, par auenture] me him tolde more þan soþ were.
c1395 G. Chaucer Merchant's Tale 1670 Dispeire yow noght, but haue in youre memorie, Paraunter [v.rr. perauntir, perauenture] she may be youre purgatorie.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 69 ‘Peradventure,’ seyde Balyne, ‘ye had bene bettir to have holde you at home.’
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Tobit x. 2 Peraduenture Gabelus is deed, and no man wyl geue him the money.
1588 in L. B. Taylor Aberdeen Council Lett. (1942) I. 39 He will peradventure schow his Maiestie this unhonest procedingis.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iii. ii. 292 Peraduenture I will with ye to the court. View more context for this quotation
1611 Bible (King James) Gen. xviii. 24 Peraduenture there be fifty righteous within the citie. View more context for this quotation
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan i. xiii. 63 It may peradventure be thought, there was never such a time.
1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews (ed. 2) II. iii. xii. 161 Peradventure I may be an Hour later.
1765 J. Dickinson Late Regulations Brit. Colonies i Which calculation I do not make at random, but on mature consideration, and, per adventure, upon as much experience..as any other person will pretend to.
1832 New Eng. Mag. Feb. 105 Along the sea beach..you may behold, peradventure, some fifteen or twenty of them.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Elaine in Idylls of King 192 Peradventure had he seen her first She might have made this and that other world Another world for the sick man.
1931 Good Housek. (U.S. ed.) Dec. 115/2 Peradventure it was a dream, and the star never halted.
1990 C. R. Johnson Middle Passage (1991) iii. 69 Peradventure its very breathing was a chant so full of love..that the boy's heart bade him listen more.
b. Modifying a word or phrase independently.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [adverb] > perhaps
is wenc897
wen isc897
peradventurec1300
peradventurec1325
perchancec1350
uphapa1375
percasea1393
lightly1395
in casea1398
maybea1400
may chancea1400
may-falla1400
may-fortunea1400
may-tidea1400
perhapa1464
happen1487
perhapsc1520
percase1523
ablea1525
by chance1526
mayhap1533
fortunea1535
belikelya1551
haps1570
mayhappen1577
perhappen1578
possibly1600
not impossibly1667
ables1673
aunters1673
aiblins1720
p'rapsa1745
aunterens1825
mebbe1825
yes-no1898
yimkin1925
ja-nee1937
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 4204 (MED) He wole þe limemele To drawe & uorsuolwe par auenture at one mele.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. 3351 (MED) Jason..seide, ‘Of every worldes cure Fortune stant in aventure, Per aunter wel, per aunter wo.’
c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame 792 Yf that thow Throwe on water now a stoon..hyt wol make anoon A litel roundell as a sercle, Paraunter [v.r. Parauentre] brod as a covercle.
a1500 (c1450) P. Idley Instr. to his Son (Arun.) (1935) ii. S. 406 (MED) Þou..lettes not only deuocion off þiselffe, But perauenture off mo þan x or xij.
1575 W. Stevenson Gammer Gurtons Nedle iv. ii. sig. Diiv Lo where he commeth towards, peraduenture to his paine.
1611 M. Smith in Bible (King James) Transl. Pref. 1 Hee was no babe, but a great clearke, that gaue foorth.., in passion peraduenture,..that hee had not seene any profit to come by any Synode.
a1687 C. Cotton Poems (1689) 305 Most would be poor, and peradventure all.
1714 J. Gay Shepherd's Week Proeme sig. A4v I have chosen (paradventure not overrashly) to name mine by the Days of the Week.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa VII. xxv. 110 One false step generally brings on another; and peradventure a worse.
1822 Ld. Byron Let. 28 Nov. (1980) X. 42 I..hope to make it last me a year—and perhaps two—and peradventure three.
1891 E. Arnold Light of World v. 244 She lay Dying—by this time, peradventure, dead.
1921 Times 21 Feb. 6/2 Their brethren in England may find it possible to give audience to the need, and, peradventure, to the claims of the Church in Wales.
1995 Philadelphia Daily News (Nexis) 16 June 60 The once-evanescent Philadelphia-born guitarist..is back with us, peradventure to stay.
2. In a statement of fact: by chance, by accident; as it happens or happened. rare after 17th cent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > [adverb]
feringc1000
feringlya1300
by casec1300
chancefully1303
lotc1325
peradventurec1325
of chance1330
happilya1375
in hapa1375
upon hapsa1375
casuallyc1384
perchancec1387
chancely1389
by fortune1390
haplyc1390
by (also of) adventurea1393
percasea1393
adventurelyc1400
percase1402
accidently?a1425
adventurously1440
by (good, lucky, etc.) hap?a1450
accidentally1528
chanceably1559
bechance1569
chance1595
casual-wise1601
accidental1622
occasionally1622
fortuitouslya1652
contingently1668
by chance1669
chanceable1709
per-hazard1788
chance-wise1844
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [adverb] > by any chance
peradventurec1325
percase1402
perchancea1425
perhapsc1520
anauntrins1676
by any chance1914
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 7710 (MED) Richard, is o neueu, brec þere is nekke þer to, As he rod an honteþ & par auntre is hors spurnde.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. 2350 (MED) Thanne out of his sepulture Ther sprong anon par aventure Of floures such a wonder syhte, That men ensample take myhte.
a1450 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe ii. §12. 9 The xiij day of March fyl upon a Saturday, peraventure.
a1505 R. Henryson Test. Cresseid l. 104 in Poems (1981) 114 Perauenture all cummis for the best.
a1624 Bp. M. Smith Serm. (1632) 115 God wrought so vpon ones conscience that peraduenture was priuy to the designe, but had been sworne before to keep it secret.
1726 T. Madox Firma Burgi i. 27 Peradventure, from these Secular Gilds, or in imitation of them, sprang the method or practice of gildating and embodying whole Towns.
1870 E. Dickinson Let. 26 Sept. (1931) 288 Trust adjusts her ‘peradventure.’ Phantoms entered ‘and not you.’
1919 T. Dreiser Twelve Men i. 18 It was so fortunate to meet him so, so accidentally and peradventure.
1999 in Pennsylvania Law Weekly (Nexis) 25 Jan. 15 Justice Castille concluded that ‘if the facts of Banks fell “narrowly short” of establishing probable cause, it is peradventure that the facts of this matter meet the lesser “reasonable suspicion” standard’.
3. In a conditional clause (with if, unless, etc.) or a clause of purpose (with lest or that): by chance or accident; as may happen, as may be the case, as is possible. if peradventure: if it should chance or happen that.
ΚΠ
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) Gen. iii. 3 Of þe fruyt forsoþ of þe tree þat is in þe mydyll of paradise, comaundide us god þat we schulde not eten..lest perauentour [L. ne forte] we dyen.
c1410 tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 121 He..hastily wente awey, þat þere schulde no lettynge peradventure [L. forsan] come unto hym.
a1425 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Galba) 28911 (MED) If a doghty man for det, Par-auenture be in presun set..þe aw to do þine almus þare.
?a1430 Compleynte Virgin (Huntington) l. 93 in Minor Poems T. Hoccleve (1970) i. 3 Lest þat somme folk par auenture No knowleche hadde of thy persone aright, Thy name, Pilat hath put in scripture.
a1475 in A. Clark Eng. Reg. Godstow Nunnery (1906) ii. 475 (MED) And yf peraventure he myght not warantiȝe, he and his heires shold yelde to the forsaid maister Robert..iiij mark.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 739 Least he peraduenture should be noted with the spot of Nigardship.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iv. vi. 5 He tells me, that if peraduenture He speake against me on the aduerse side, I should not thinke it strange. View more context for this quotation
1682 Fortunatus xxvii. 83 He..searched about to see if peradventure he could chance on the Hat or Purse.
1743 H. Fielding Jonathan Wild iv. iv, in Misc. III. 315 I apprehend, no Mind was ever yet formed entirely free from Blemish, unless peradventure that of a sanctified Hypocrite.
1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker I. p. vii I would not willingly vilipend any Christian, if, peradventure, he deserveth that epithet.
1843 E. Bulwer-Lytton Last of Barons I. ii. ii. 184 Unless, peradventure, their wives were comely and young.
1874 Mgr. Patterson in H. E. Manning Ess. Relig. & Lit. 3rd Ser. 132 If, then, peradventure, (or rather per impossibile,) a young candidate for ordination has passed unscathed through the pestilent State hotbeds of infidelity.
1889 ‘M. Twain’ Connecticut Yankee xxxvii. 477 Some say they will wait a pair of days more, if peradventure they may find the missing one meantime.
1921 E. D. Soper Relig. Mankind iv. 106 Up this ladder the dead might climb if peradventure they knew the necessary magical formulae.
1964 Hispania 47 353 We have twinges of doubt that Modern Spanish..will be covered in thirty weeks unless, peradventure, our beginners are graduate students in disguise.
2000 Portland (Maine) Press Herald (Nexis) 10 Feb. 12 a If peradventure life is meaningless and we are mere blobs of proteins.., then it need not concern us how any individual ends his own life.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.?c1450
adv.c1300