Etymologically
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perhaps

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /pəˈhæps/, /præps/, US /pɚˈhæps/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Middle English per (“by, through”) + haps (“chances”),[2][3][4] the plural of hap (“chance”), from earlier Middle English perhap,[2][5] on the model of peradventure and perchance.[2][6] Word Origins calls it an unusual hybrid of French per “by”, from Latin, and hap, from Old Norse.[7] Hoad says it replaced the Middle English phrase by hap or by haps.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Possibly, it may be”: about 1430 in the OED,[9] the late 15th century in Etymonline,[2] or about 1475 in Barnhart, as perhappous.[3] The earlier perhap is from the mid-14th century.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The final -s appears only about 1520.[7] Perhaps has since replaced peradventure and perchance.[2] From 1534 it qualifies a word or phrase on its own, and it is used as a noun, “a mere possibility”, from the same year.[9] In conditional clauses, “as may happen”, it is from 1576.[9] The verb, “to say perhaps”, is a rare use from 1789.[9]

Timeline

  • mid-14th century – perhap.[2]
  • c. 1430 – qualifying a statement.[9]
  • c. 1520 – the form perhaps.[7][10]
  • 1534 – as a noun, a possibility.[9]
  • 1576 – in conditional clauses.[9]

Modern meaning

Adverb

  1. Maybe; possibly.
  2. Used to make a request or suggestion more polite.

Noun

  1. A possibility or uncertain thing.

Usage notes

The Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary notes that in British English /pəˈhæps/ is usual in formal speech and when the word stands alone, while the shortened /præps/ is common elsewhere, especially at the start of a sentence.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b 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 g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster