English Online Dictionary. What means happen? What does happen mean?
English
Etymology
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).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈhæpən/
- Rhymes: -æpən
Verb
happen (third-person singular simple present happens, present participle happening, simple past and past participle happened)
- (intransitive) To occur or take place.
- Synonyms: come to pass; see also Thesaurus:happen
- (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.
Usage notes
- In the sense which indicates a chance occurrence, happen is a catenative verb that takes the to-infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs
Derived terms
Related terms
- happening
- happenstance
Translations
Adverb
happen (not comparable)
- (obsolete or dialect) maybe, perhaps.
Dutch
Etymology
From hap (“bite”) + -en.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɦɑpə(n)/
- Rhymes: -ɑpən
Verb
happen
- to take a bite
Conjugation
Derived terms
- behappen
Descendants
- → Papiamentu: hap
Noun
happen
- plural of hap