peradventure
1 of 2noun
peradventure
2 of 2adverb
Did you know?
When Middle English speakers borrowed par aventure from Anglo-French (in which language it means, literally, "by chance"), it was as an adverb meaning "perhaps" or "possibly." Before long, the word was anglicized to peradventure, and turned into a noun as well. The adverb is now archaic, though Washington Irving and other writers were still using it in the 19th century. "If peradventure some straggling merchant ... should stop at his door with his cart load of tin ware....," writes Irving in A History of New York. The noun senses we use today tend to show up in the phrase "beyond peradventure" in contexts relating to proving or demonstrating something. The "chance" sense is usually used in the phrase "beyond peradventure of doubt."
Example Sentences
Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2021 My general take is my son's father-in-law is pretty much sanctimonious beyond all peradventure. The Washington Post, 27 Mar. 2020 Word History
Adverb
Middle English par aventure, from Anglo-French, by chance
Noun
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Adverb
14th century, in the meaning defined above