Etymologically
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happen

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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hap, “chance, luck”, with the verb-forming suffix -en,[2][3][4][5] an extension of the more common verb hap, which it superseded.[2][6][4] Barnhart notes possible influence from Old English hæppan.[3] Etymonline notes that Old English used gelimpan and gesceon in this sense, and Middle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

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