event

American  

[ih-vent] / ɪˈvɛnt /

noun

• events
  plural

1. something that happens or is regarded as happening; an occurrence, especially one of some importance.

   Synonyms:

   circumstance, case, affair, happening

2. the outcome, issue, or result of anything.

   The venture had no successful event.

   Synonyms:

   consequence

3. something that occurs in a certain place during a particular interval of time.

4. Physics. in relativity, an occurrence that is sharply localized at a single point in space and instant of time.

5. Sports. any of the contests in a program made up of one sport or of a number of sports.

   The broad jump event followed the pole vault.

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idioms

1. in the event of, if there should be.

   In the event of rain, the party will be held indoors.

2. in any event, regardless of what happens; in any case. Also at all events.

3. in the event that, if it should happen that; in case.

   In the event that I can't come back by seven, you can eat without me.

event British  

/ ɪˈvɛnt /

noun

1. anything that takes place or happens, esp something important; happening; incident

2. the actual or final outcome; result (esp in the phrases in the event, after the event )

3. any one contest in a programme of sporting or other contests

   the high jump is his event

4. philosophy

   1. an occurrence regarded as a bare instant of space-time as contrasted with an object which fills space and has endurance

   2. an occurrence regarded in isolation from, or contrasted with, human agency Compare act

5. regardless of circumstances; in any case

6. in case of; if (such a thing) happens

   in the event of rain the race will be cancelled

7. if it should happen that

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verb

1. to take part or ride (a horse) in eventing

event More Idioms  

1. see blessed event; in any case (event); in case (in the event); in the unlikely event.

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Synonym Usage

Event, episode, incident, occurrence are terms for a happening. An event is usually an important happening: historical events. An episode is one of a series of happenings in a person's life or in a narrative: an episode in one's life. An incident is an event of usually minor importance: an amusing incident in a play. An occurrence is something that happens, often by surprise: His arrival was an unexpected occurrence.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• superevent
  noun
• eventless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• events
  plural

Etymology

Origin of event

First recorded in 1560–70; from Latin ēventus “occurrence, outcome,” equivalent to ēven(īre) “to come out, fall out, occur” + -tus suffix of verbal action

Explanation

An event is something that happens, or might happen. In the event that you get stuck in traffic, the wedding will continue. It is too important an event to wait even for someone as important as you. When something is eventful, many things happen during it. In a detective story, a protagonist can protect himself by mailing an envelope to the police to be opened "in the event of his death." In the novel White Noise, Don DeLillo describes an Airborne Toxic Event, both predicting and mocking the disasters of our time.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

event events

I quote Mr. Jenkins’s Sept. 12 column only because I happened to read it that day and because his cold and lordly tone captures the European chattering classes’ response to the event.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

Thursday's event will be Prince William's biggest public appearance in the UK since the return of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

Apple unveiled its long-awaited first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo, on Wednesday, at the company's first launch event since CEO John Ternus took the reins on September 1.

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

“The fear is: ‘What if I have a health event or something happens to my spouse?’

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026

“Anyway, the event on Saturday should be interesting. Maybe they’ll talk about the new movie.”

From "A Monster of a Mystery (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #5)" by Franklin W. Dixon

It’s unusual for American political parties to hold a convention for midterm elections, as they instead typically focus on running such events only during presidential election years.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

While the exact terms of these aren't known, it is understood they featured costly fines and a requirement to pay a minimum number of tour events.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

It shuttled the members of Aztek Nation to events, and in the image caption, Rosales waxes poetic that the van was like a member of the crew.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

Notable events included Lake Mead, America's largest reservoir, dropping to its lowest level on record.

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

Celia’s busy with one of the open-to-the-public events for the environmental science institute, so I set out on my own to run four laps around the nature trail.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

Related Words

• accident
• act
• action
• affair
• appearance
• business
• case
• celebration
• ceremony
• circumstance
• crisis
• development
• episode
• experience
• fact
• holiday
• incident
• matter
• occasion
• situation