happenstance

[hap-uh n-stans]

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noun

a chance happening or event.

Origin of happenstance

First recorded in 1895–1900; happen + (circum)stance

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for happenstance

coincidence, incident, fate, luck

Examples from the Web for happenstance

Contemporary Examples of happenstance

All of these differences add up to make each planet unique, a product of happenstance and history.
The Best Map of Mars Yet
Matthew R. Francis
July 20, 2014
The success that followed 16 years later was a matter of happenstance, not of strategy.
Fool's Gold
David Frum
February 13, 2013

Historical Examples of happenstance

The German was just a happenstance, a castaway in the war for Arzachel.
First on the Moon
Jeff Sutton
But the happenstance habits of nature were steadily being integrated into the control program of man.
The Thirst Quenchers
Rick Raphael
Out of the chaos of happenstance they were finding rules of order, certain formulas of behavior, equations of force.
Empire
Clifford Donald Simak
This is contrasted to happenstance decision making based on impulsiveness and wishful thinking.
Sequential Problem Solving
Fredric Lozo
As for deceased, his ontimely evaporation that a-way is but the frootes of happenstance.
Faro Nell and Her Friends
Alfred Henry Lewis

British Dictionary definitions for happenstance

happenstance

noun

chance

a chance occurrence

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for happenstance

1897, from happening + ending from circumstance.