kans

Forms

kans f (plural kansen, diminutive kansje n)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch canse, borrowed from Old French cance, the Picard form of what became standard chance, from Vulgar Latin *cadentia (“a throw at knucklebones; a fall”), a derivative of cadō (“to fall”).^[2][1][3][4] The word first meant the fall of the dice.^[2][3] Dutch has /k/ because it took the Picard form, not the central French one with ⟨ch⟩, as with kar and kasteel.^[5] The Latin verb is related to Sanskrit शद् (śad-, “to fall”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *ḱeh₂d-.^[2]

Middle Dutch had a by-form ⟨kens⟩, and ⟨canse⟩ could also mean “cadence”.^[6][7] The same Latin word came into Dutch twice more, through Italian as cadens and through Italian and French as cadans; sjans is the French form.^[2] Middle Low German kanze probably came from Dutch, while Middle High German schanze and English chance are from central French.^[7][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word may be in the name Kanseken as early as 1292.^[2] It is certain in a Flemish text of 1340, where a player who knowingly throws an ace for a six must forfeit the canze, the throw; the same text uses it for a chance of good fortune that was missed.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

From “a throw of the dice” the Old French word had already come to mean a chance event and then a lucky one, the sense Dutch borrowed.^[2] In the 16th and 17th centuries de kans wagen was to risk a throw and so to try one's luck (1588).^[8] The plural kansen, “prospects of something happening”, was taken from French and appears in 1716, of two players each with an equal chance of winning; the singular then took over the abstract sense “probability” (1903).^[2][8] The plural survives in phrases such as de kansen keren and gelijke kansen.^[2]

Dutch or Low German gave Danish and Swedish kans “opportunity”, and Dutch gave it to Indonesian and the Malay of Ambon and Kupang; in Petjoh kans maken was to court a girl.^[9][1] In Surinamese Dutch kans can mean “risk”, after English chance.^[10]

Timeline

• 1292 – Perhaps in the name Kanseken.^[2]
• 1340 – Canze “throw of the dice” and “chance of luck” in Flanders.^[6][2]
• 1564 – Gambling for a stiver igelijcke canse, each throw.^[8]
• 1588 – De kansse waghen, to try one's luck.^[8]
• 1716 – Kanssen “probabilities” of winning a game.^[2]
• 1903 – De kans as the probability that something will happen.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. chance, probability: the likelihood that something will happen: er is weinig kans op regen.^[11][1][5]
2. An opportunity, a favourable occasion: zij greep haar kans.^[11][1]
3. (sport) An opportunity to score.^[11]

Word family

• buitenkans
• kansarm
• kansberekening
• kansloos
• kansparel
• kansrekening
• kansrijk
• kansspel
• kansverdeling
• overlevingskans
• trefkans
• krijgskans
• levenskans
• sterftekans
• huwelijkskans

Related words

• cadans
• cadens
• sjans
• French chance

Usage notes

Dikke kans dat … means “it is very likely that …”, and de kans van je leven is the best chance one will ever get.^[11] In Belgium the older form kanse was still in use in 1919.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Philippa, Marlies; Debrabandere, Frans; Quak, Arend; Schoonheim, Tanneke; Sijs, Nicoline van der (2003–2009), Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands, 4 vols., Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press; online via etymologiebank.nl
3. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum
5. ^ a b WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b c Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
7. ^ a b Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
8. ^ a b c d e Vries, Matthias de; Winkel, L. A. te, et al. (1882–1998), Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, 29 vols., 's-Gravenhage / Leiden: Nijhoff / Sijthoff / SDU; supplement 2001; gtb.ivdnt.org
9. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
10. ^ Donselaar, J. van (1989), Woordenboek van het Surinaams-Nederlands, Muiderberg: Coutinho
11. ^ a b c d Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers