hap.
A person's lot (good or bad), luck, fortune, fate.
Meaning & usage
A person's lot (good or bad), luck, fortune, fate.
A stroke of good or bad luck, an occurrence or happening, especially an unexpected, random, chance, or fortuitous event.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kob-der. Proto-Germanic *hampą Old Norse happbor. Middle English hap English hap From Middle English hap, happe (“chance, hap, luck, fortune”), potentially cognate with or from Old English ġehæp (“fit, convenient”) and/or Old Norse happ (“hap, chance, good luck”), from Proto-Germanic *hampą (“convenience, happiness”), from Proto-Indo-European *kob- (“good fortune, prophecy; to bend, bow, fit in, work, succeed”). Cognate with Icelandic happ (“hap, chance, good luck”). Related also to Icelandic heppinn (“lucky, fortunate, happy”), Old Danish hap (“fortunate”), Swedish hampa (“to turn out”), Old Church Slavonic кобь (kobĭ, “fate”), Old Irish cob (“victory”). The verb is from Middle English 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”), from the noun. Cognate with Old Danish happe (“to chance, happen”), Norwegian heppa (“to occur, happen”).
To happen; to befall; to chance.
To happen to.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kob-der. Proto-Germanic *hampą Old Norse happbor. Middle English hap English hap From Middle English hap, happe (“chance, hap, luck, fortune”), potentially cognate with or from Old English ġehæp (“fit, convenient”) and/or Old Norse happ (“hap, chance, good luck”), from Proto-Germanic *hampą (“convenience, happiness”), from Proto-Indo-European *kob- (“good fortune, prophecy; to bend, bow, fit in, work, succeed”). Cognate with Icelandic happ (“hap, chance, good luck”). Related also to Icelandic heppinn (“lucky, fortunate, happy”), Old Danish hap (“fortunate”), Swedish hampa (“to turn out”), Old Church Slavonic кобь (kobĭ, “fate”), Old Irish cob (“victory”). The verb is from Middle English 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”), from the noun. Cognate with Old Danish happe (“to chance, happen”), Norwegian heppa (“to occur, happen”).
Happenings; events; goings-on.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kob-der. Proto-Germanic *hampą Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Germanic *-janą Proto-Germanic *hampijanąder. Old Norse *happader.? ▲ Proto-Germanic *hampijanąder. Old Norse *heppader.? Old English hæppander.? Middle English happen Proto-Indo-European *-o- Proto-Indo-European *-nom Proto-Indo-European *-onom Proto-Germanic *-aną Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Germanic *-janą Old English -an Middle English -en Middle English happenen English happen Proto-Germanic *-ungō Old English -ung Middle English -ynge English -ing English happeningclip. English hap Clipping of happening.
A wrap, such as a quilt or a comforter. Also, a small or folded blanket placed on the end of a bed to keep feet warm.
Where this word comes from
Inherited from Old English hap.
To wrap, clothe.
Where this word comes from
Inherited from Old English hap.
Any of the cichlid fishes of the tribe Haplochromini.
Where this word comes from
Shortening of New Latin Haplochromis.
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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.