serendipity English · revision 72

+ ==Etymology==

+ 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)

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+ 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) The word was rare before the 20th century.^(Etymonline)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}