happen

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈhæp.ən/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English happenen, formed from hap, “chance, luck”, with the verb-forming suffix -en,^[2][3][4][5] an extension of the more common verb hap, which it superseded.^[2][6][4] Barnhart notes possible influence from Old English hæppan.^[3] Etymonline notes that Old English used gelimpan and gesceon in this sense, and Middle English also befall.^[2] It is related to happy, perhaps and haphazard.^[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

To come to pass, occur, originally by hap or chance: about 1375^[8] or about 1380.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

“To have the fortune to do something” is from the 14th century,^[8] and “to come or go casually, to make an appearance” from before 1450.^[8] “To come upon by chance”, with on or upon, is from 1533.^[8] Happening, an occurrence, is from 1551.^[3] Happens to be, as an assertive way of saying “is”, is from 1707.^[2] In Scotland and the north, happen as an adverb means “perhaps”, from the late 15th century.^[6][8]

Timeline

• c. 1375 – to come to pass.^[8]
• before 1450 – to make an appearance.^[8]
• late 15th century – adverb, perhaps (northern).^[6]
• 1533 – happen on, to find by chance.^[8]
• 1551 – happening.^[3]
• 1707 – happens to be.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To come to pass; to take place.
2. To occur by chance.
3. To come upon something by chance.
4. To come or go casually; to turn up.
5. To chance to be or do: he happened to be there.

Word family

• happenchance

Related words

• happening
• happenstance
• hap
• happy
• haphazard
• perhaps
• mishap

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary compares happen with befall, betide, chance and occur, all meaning “to come about”.^[9]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin