unforeseenadj.
/ˌʌnfɔːˈsiːn/, /ˌʌnfəˈsiːn/, U.S. /ˌənˌfɔrˈsin/, /ˌənfərˈsin/ (un- prefix1 2b. Cf. Middle Dutch onvoresien, Dutch onvoorzien; Middle High German unvorsên.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > quality of being unforeseen > [adjective]
unweenOE
unpurveyeda1382
unprovideda1500
unprovised?a1500
improvided1590
unforeseen1651
unforeknown1667
unpredicted1792
unforeboded1818
uncalculated1828
unforetold1846
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iv. xliv. 334 By reasoning from the un-foreseen mischances.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 821 Through dire change Befalln us unforeseen, unthought of. View more context for this quotation
1725 G. Berkeley Proposal in Wks. (1871) III. 228 Unforeseen difficulties may arise.
1778 Earl of Carlisle in J. H. Jesse G. Selwyn & his Contemp. (1844) III. 302 In case nothing unforeseen happens.
1836 W. Irving Astoria III. 132 Unless some unforeseen contingency should render a modification necessary.
1875 W. D. Whitney Life & Growth of Lang. vii. 127 The unforeseen consequence of an external addition.
Derivatives
unforeˈseenly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > quality of being unforeseen > [adverb]
unforeseenly1853
improvidently1885
1853 G. J. Cayley Las Alforjas I. 104 A peasant appeared unforeseenly, and offered to carry me across.
unforeˈseenness n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > quality of being unforeseen > [noun]
imprevisibility1887
unforeseenness1897
1897 Daily News 21 Sept. 4/7 The ‘unforeseenness’ of the cycle is its worst reproach in towns.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1924; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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adj.1651