serendipity
[ser-uh n-dip-i-tee]
- an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.
- good fortune; luck: the serendipity of getting the first job she applied for.
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Origin of serendipity
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for serendipity
Contemporary Examples
Then came one of those weird bits of serendipity that make the writing life—and the book tour—worth all the trouble.
I was thinking of new ways to engage with my audience and with a bit of serendipity and inspiration the cake was born.
I often think about the fall lines of life, the invisible tightropes that divide moments of calamity and serendipity.
Two Chickens, an Old Guitar, and a Group of Strangers: A Life-Changing Feast in BrazilAnnabel Langbein
November 29, 2013
It strips music buying of serendipity and context, making Justin Bieber as important as the Beatles.
Get to know these three terms: Timeline, the Open Graph, and serendipity—the process of stumbling toward discovery.
Historical Examples
That polite trifler is fond of a word which he coined himself—'Serendipity.'
Miss Cayley's AdventuresGrant Allen
They think of serendipity as earned, of work as bestowed, of success as deserved and reserved to the deserving.
After the RainSam Vaknin
It is more than this: it is a matter of observation to any one with a moderate degree of "Serendipity."
Humanly SpeakingSamuel McChord Crothers
It was just six o'clock, and the public-house opposite the Serendipity shop was lighting up.
The Lure of Old LondonSophie Cole
Serendipity, sėr-en-dip′i-ti, n. a love for rare old books and other articles of virtu.
serendipity
- the faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident
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Word Origin
C18: coined by Horace Walpole, from the Persian fairytale The Three Princes of Serendip, in which the heroes possess this gift
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 serendipity
n.
1754 (but rare before 20c.), coined by Horace Walpole (1717-92) in a letter to Horace Mann (dated Jan. 28); he said he formed it from the Persian 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." The name is from Serendip, an old name for Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka), from Arabic Sarandib, from Sanskrit Simhaladvipa "Dwelling-Place-of-Lions Island."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper