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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

chance.

An opportunity or possibility.

6 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/t͡ʃɑːns/ [t͡ʃʰɑːns]Received-Pronunciation, Southern-England/t͡ʃäːns/ [t͡ʃʰäːns]/t͡ʃɐːns/ [t͡ʃʰɐːns][t͡ʃɑːns]India
  1. An opportunity or possibility.

    countable
    We had the chance to meet the president last week: we have a good/strong chance of making / to make a profit.
    There was a fat/slim chance that my letter would arrive in time.
  2. Random occurrence; luck.

    uncountable
    Why leave it to chance when a few simple steps will secure the desired outcome?
    My whole life seems to be ruled by blind chance.
  3. The probability of something happening.

    countable
    There is a 30 percent chance of rain tomorrow.
    There is little chance of having the chance to approach such a big celeb.
  4. probability; possibility.

    countable · plural · uncountable
  5. What befalls or happens to a person; their lot or fate.

    archaic · countable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English chance, cheance, chaunce, cheaunce, a borrowing from Old French cheance (“accident, chance, luck”), from Vulgar Latin *cadentia (“falling”), from Latin cadere (“to fall, to die, to happen, occur”). Doublet of cadence and cadenza.

adj/t͡ʃɑːns/ [t͡ʃʰɑːns]Received-Pronunciation, Southern-England/t͡ʃäːns/ [t͡ʃʰäːns]/t͡ʃɐːns/ [t͡ʃʰɐːns][t͡ʃɑːns]India
  1. Happening by chance, casual.

    not-comparable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English chance, cheance, chaunce, cheaunce, a borrowing from Old French cheance (“accident, chance, luck”), from Vulgar Latin *cadentia (“falling”), from Latin cadere (“to fall, to die, to happen, occur”). Doublet of cadence and cadenza.

adv/t͡ʃɑːns/ [t͡ʃʰɑːns]Received-Pronunciation, Southern-England/t͡ʃäːns/ [t͡ʃʰäːns]/t͡ʃɐːns/ [t͡ʃʰɐːns][t͡ʃɑːns]India
  1. Perchance; perhaps.

    not-comparable · obsolete
Where this word comes from

From Middle English chance, cheance, chaunce, cheaunce, a borrowing from Old French cheance (“accident, chance, luck”), from Vulgar Latin *cadentia (“falling”), from Latin cadere (“to fall, to die, to happen, occur”). Doublet of cadence and cadenza.

verb/t͡ʃɑːns/ [t͡ʃʰɑːns]Received-Pronunciation, Southern-England/t͡ʃäːns/ [t͡ʃʰäːns]/t͡ʃɐːns/ [t͡ʃʰɐːns][t͡ʃɑːns]India
  1. To happen by chance, to occur.

    archaic · intransitive
    It chanced that I found a solution the very next day.
  2. To befall; to happen to.

    archaic · transitive
  3. To try or risk.

    Shall we carry the umbrella, or chance a rainstorm?
  4. To discover something by chance.

    He chanced upon a kindly stranger who showed him the way.
  5. To rob, cheat or swindle someone.

    Belize
    The car broke down a week after I bought it. I was chanced by that fast-talking salesman.
  6. To take an opportunity from someone; to cut a queue.

    Nigeria
Where this word comes from

From Middle English chancen, chauncen, from the noun (see above).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.