Word Stories: hap

Steve Taylore-Knowles looks at the stories behind the English language.

If you’re a philosophical sort of gambler, then I suppose it’s possible to lose at the roulette table and still be happy. This wouldn’t have been the case in the past, though. Happy originally meant ‘having good fortune’ and is derived from the Middle English word hap (luck, good fortune), which in turn came from Old Norse happ, again meaning ‘luck, chance’. Hap has also enjoyed a life as a verb, meaning ‘to come about by chance’.

Although it no longer survives on its own as a separate element, hap can be found in words such as mishap (unlucky accident) and haphazard (random, dependent upon chance). The second element in this word, hazard, was originally a dice game and it seems that it derives from Arabic. The OED suggest that it may come from the name of a castle where the game was supposedly invented (Hasart) or from vulgar Arabic az-zahr (die, in the sense of one die, two dice). Although hazard has now almost completely taken on the meaning of ‘dangerous obstacle’, it retains the sense of taking a chance as a verb in the phrase hazard a guess.

And, as might be obvious now, hap is the root of happen (take place, occur). The suffix -en is the same suffix we find in threaten, forming a verb from a noun. Although it is not restricted to the sense of coming about by chance, it still retains a strong connection to the idea of unplanned, fortuitous occurence in the sense happen to be. It also forms part of the word happenstance (chance event, also happenchance), which is quite a modern word (late 19th century) and is an amalgam of happening and circumstance.

Hap survives in another word that has, interestingly, outlived other contenders for the same function. Perchance, mayhap and peradventure have all fallen out of use, leaving the way clear for perhaps.

If there are any aspects of English words you've always wondered about, drop me a line at [email protected] and I'll see if I can come up with an answer.