serendipity English · revision 192

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˌsɛɹ.ənˈdɪp.ɪ.ti/, /ˌsɛɹ.ɛnˈdɪp.ɪ.ti/ ''(UK)''; /ˌsɛɹ.ənˈdɪp.ɪ.ti/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Coined by Horace Walpole in a letter to Horace Mann of 28 January 1754,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) formed [[af|en|Serendip|-ity]],^(OED 1989)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary) after the title of the fairy tale ''The Three Princes of Serendip'', whose heroes “were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of”.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Serendip is a former name for Sri Lanka,^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary) from Persian ''Sarandīp'',^(AHD) from Arabic ''Sarandīb'',^(AHD)^(Etymonline) ultimately from Sanskrit ''Simhaladvipa'' “Dwelling-Place-of-Lions Island”.^(Etymonline)

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline) Walpole stressed that finding something one is looking for does not count,^(AHD) and gave as an example Lord Shaftesbury discovering a secret marriage from the respect with which a mother treated her daughter at table.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Walpole's letter was apparently not published until 1833,^(Etymonline) and the word was rare before the 20th century:^(Etymonline) an article in ''The Saturday Review'' called attention to it in 1877,^(Etymonline) it began to appear in print in the 1890s,^(Etymonline) and it was still absent from the Century Dictionary in 1902.^(Etymonline) It became popular in the mid-20th century.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1708 – ''Serendip'' recorded in English as a name for Ceylon.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1722 – an English version of ''The Three Princes of Serendip''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1754 – Walpole coins the word.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1833 – Walpole's letter is published.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1877 – ''The Saturday Review'' calls attention to the word.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1939 – ''serendipitist''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A fortunate chance discovery; good luck.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[serendipitous]]

+ * [[serendipitously]]

+ * [[serendipiter]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Serendipity'' is sometimes used loosely as a synonym for luck;^(Wiktionary)^(RHWU) more careful usage, especially in science, stresses finding something valuable while looking for something else, thanks to an observant mind.^(Wiktionary)^(AHD)