Word definition: happen

Etimology


From Middle English happenen, hapnen, augmented from Middle English happen (“to come to pass, happen”), perhaps from Old English hæppan (“to move accidentally, slip”) and/or from Old Norse *happa, *heppa, from Proto-Germanic *hampijaną (“to fit in, be fitting”). Equivalent to hap (“a chance, occurrence, byfall”) +‎ -en (verbal suffix).

verb


happen (third-person singular simple present happens, present participle happening, simple past and past participle happened)

(intransitive) To occur or take place.

(transitive, archaic) To happen to; to befall.

(intransitive or impersonal, with infinitive) To do or occur by chance or unexpectedly.

(followed by on or upon) To encounter by chance.

(informal) To become popular or trendy.

Examples


Synonyms: come to pass; see also Thesaurus:happen

Let me tell you how it happened.

Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic who still resists the idea that something drastic needs to happen for him to turn his life around.

'By my soul! I believe something bad has happened me,' he muttered, and popped up his window, and looked out, half dreaming over the church-yard on the park beyond […]

Take an umbrella in case it happens to rain.

Do you happen to have an umbrella?

I happened to get wet.

Unexpectedly, in a nook close by the farmhouse, he happened upon a spot where the vintage had actually commenced.

Related words


related terms

happening

happenstance

adverb


happen (not comparable)

(obsolete or dialect) maybe, perhaps.

Examples


Yeah, well happen if he'd gone quietly, she wouldn't have needed to show him who's in charge.

Data provided by Wiktionary