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Webster 1913 Edition

Chance

Chance

(chȧns)
,
Noun.
[F.
chance
, OF.
cheance
, fr. LL.
cadentia
a allusion to the falling of the dice), fr. L.
cadere
to fall; akin to Skr.
çad
to fall, L.
cedere
to yield, E.
cede
. Cf.
Cadence
.]
1.
A supposed material or psychical agent or mode of activity other than a force, law, or purpose; fortune; fate; – in this sense often personified.
It is strictly and philosophically true in nature and reason that there is no such thing as
chance
or accident; it being evident that these words do not signify anything really existing, anything that is truly an agent or the cause of any event; but they signify merely men’s ignorance of the real and immediate cause.
Samuel Clark.
Any society into which
chance
might throw him.
Macaulay.
That power
Which erring men call
Chance
.
Milton.
2.
The operation or activity of such agent.
By chance a priest came down that way.
Luke x. 31.
3.
The supposed effect of such an agent; something that befalls, as the result of unknown or unconsidered forces; the issue of uncertain conditions; an event not calculated upon; an unexpected occurrence; a happening; accident; fortuity; casualty.
It was a
chance
that happened to us.
1 Sam. vi. 9.
The Knave of Diamonds tries his wily arts,
And wins (O shameful
chance
!) the Queen of Hearts.
Pope.
I spake of most disastrous
chance
.
Shakespeare
4.
A possibility; a likelihood; an opportunity; – with reference to a doubtful result;
as, a
chance
to escape; a
chance
for life; the
chances
are all against him
.
So weary with disasters, tugged with fortune.
That I would get my life on any
chance
,
To mend it, or be rid on 't
Shakespeare
5.
(Math.)
Probability.
☞ The mathematical expression, of a chance is the ratio of frequency with which an event happens in the long run. If an event may happen in a ways and may fail in b ways, and each of these a + b ways is equally likely, the chance, or probability, that the event will happen is measured by the fraction
a/
a + b
, and the chance, or probability, that it will fail is measured by
b/
a + b
.
Chance comer
,
one who comes unexpectedly.
–
The last chance
,
the sole remaining ground of hope.
–
The main chance
,
the chief opportunity; that upon which reliance is had, esp. self-interest.
–
Theory of chances
,
Doctrine of chances
(Math.)
,
that branch of mathematics which treats of the probability of the occurrence of particular events, as the fall of dice in given positions.
–
To mind one's chances
,
to take advantage of every circumstance; to seize every opportunity.

Chance

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Chanced
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Chancing
.]
To happen, come, or arrive, without design or expectation.
“Things that chance daily.”
Robynson (More's Utopia).
If a bird's nest
chance
to be before thee.
Deut. xxii. 6.
I
chanced
on this letter.
Shakespeare
Often used impersonally; as, how chances it?
How
chance
, thou art returned so soon?
Shakespeare

Chance

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To take the chances of; to venture upon; – usually with it as object.
Come what will, I will
chance
it.
W. D. Howells.
2.
To befall; to happen to.
[Obs.]
W. Lambarde.

Chance

,
Adj.
Happening by chance; casual.

Chance

,
adv.
By chance; perchance.
Gray.

Webster 1828 Edition

Chance

CHANCE

,
Noun.
1.
An event that happens, falls out or takes place, without being contrived, intended, expected or foreseen; the effect of an unknown cause, or the unusual or unexpected effect of a known cause; accident; casualty; fortuitous event; as, time and chance happen to all.
By chance a priest came down that way. Luke 10.
2.
Fortune; what fortune may bing; as, they must take their chance.
3.
An event, good or evil; success or misfortune; luck.
4.
Possibility of an occurrence; opportunity.
You ladyship may have a chance to escape this address.

CHANCE

,
Verb.
I.
To happen; to fall out; to come or arrive without design, or expectation.
If a birds nest chance to be before thee. Deut. 22.
Ah Casca, tell us what hath chanced to day.

CHANCE

,
Adj.
Happening by chance; casual; as a chance comer.

Definition 2024

Chance

Chance

See also: chance

English

Proper noun

Chance

  1. A male given name, an American pet form of Chauncey, in modern usage also associated with the word chance.

German

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈʃãːs(ə)/
  • IPA(key): /ˈʃaŋsə/

Etymology

French.

Noun

Chance f ‎(genitive Chance, plural Chancen)

  1. chance
    • 2010, Der Spiegel, issue 43/2010, page 170:
      Frauen haben bessere Chancen, schwerste Unfälle zu überleben, als Männer.
      Women have better chances to survive the most serious accidents than men.

Derived terms

chance

chance

See also: Chance

English

Alternative forms

Noun

chance ‎(plural chances)

  1. (countable) An opportunity or possibility.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 2, in The Celebrity:
      Here was my chance. I took the old man aside, and two or three glasses of Old Crow launched him into reminiscence.
    We had the chance to meet the president last week.‎
  2. (uncountable) Random occurrence; luck.
    Why leave it to chance when a few simple steps will secure the desired outcome?‎
  3. (countable) The probability of something happening.
    There is a 30 percent chance of rain tomorrow.‎
  4. (countable, archaic) What befalls or happens to a person; their lot or fate.
    • 1795, Robert Southey, "The Soldier's Wife" :
      Wild-visag'd Wanderer! ah for thy heavy chance!

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

chance ‎(third-person singular simple present chances, present participle chancing, simple past and past participle chanced)

  1. (archaic, intransitive) To happen by chance, to occur.
    It chanced that I found a solution the very next day.
    • Bible, Deuteronomy xxii. 6
      if a bird's nest chance to be before thee
    • Shakespeare
      I chanced on this letter.
    • 1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, book 2, ch. XV, Practical — Devotional
      Once […] it chanced that Geoffrey Riddell Bishop of Ely, a Prelate rather troublesome to our Abbot, made a request of him for timber from his woods towards certain edifices going on at Glemsford.
    • 1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, Chapter XVIII
      Mr. Mason, shivering as some one chanced to open the door, asked for more coal to be put on the fire, which had burnt out its flame, though its mass of cinder still shone hot and red. The footman who brought the coal, in going out, stopped near Mr. Eshton's chair, and said something to him in a low voice, of which I heard only the words, "old woman,"—"quite troublesome."
  2. (archaic, transitive) To befall; to happen to.
    • 1826, William Lambarde, A Perambulation of Kent
      […] while the King and Godwine sate at the table, accompanied with others of the nobilitie, it chanced the cupbearer (as he brought wine to the bourd) to slip with the one foote, and yet by good strength of his other leg, to recover himselfe without falling […]
  3. To try or risk.
    Shall we carry the umbrella, or chance a rainstorm?
    • W. D. Howells
      Come what will, I will chance it.
  4. To discover something by chance.
    He chanced upon a kindly stranger who showed him the way.

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

chance ‎(comparative more chance, superlative most chance)

  1. (rare) Happening by chance, casual.
    • 1859, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, ch. VI, The Shoe Maker (Heron Book Centenial Edition)
      No crowd was about the door; no people were discernible at any of the many windows; not even a chance passer-by was in the street. An unnatural silence and desertion reigned there.

Translations

References

  • chance in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • “chance” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: filled · visit · follow · #639: chance · happened · broken · trouble

Danish

Etymology

From French chance, from Vulgar Latin cadentia ‎(“falling”), from Latin cadō ‎(“I fall, I die”).

Noun

chance c (singular definite chancen, plural indefinite chancer)

  1. A chance

Antonyms

French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʃɑ̃s/
  • Rhymes: -ɑ̃s

Etymology

From Old French chance, cheance ‎(“accident, chance, luck”), from Vulgar Latin cadentia ‎(“falling”), from Latin cadēns, from cadō ‎(“I fall, I die”). Doublet of cadence, borrowed from Italian.

Noun

chance f ‎(plural chances)

  1. chance
  2. luck

Antonyms

Related terms

Italian

Alternative forms

  • scians

Etymology

From French chance

Noun

chance f ‎(invariable)

  1. chance (possibility of a certain outcome)

Old French

Alternative forms

  • chaance
  • chaiance
  • cheance

Etymology

Latin cadentia.

Noun

chance f ‎(oblique plural chances, nominative singular chance, nominative plural chances)

  1. chance; fate
  2. (rare) a throw of a die

Descendants

References

Portuguese

Etymology

From French chance.

Pronunciation

Noun

chance f (plural chances)

  1. Probability
  2. chance, opportunity.

Related terms

  • sem chance

Spanish

Etymology

From French chance.

Noun

chance m, f ‎(plural chances)

  1. chance

Conjunction

chance

  1. (Mexico) maybe, perchance, perhaps or possibly

Synonyms

Etymology

From Old French chance ‎(“accident, chance, luck”), from Vulgar Latin cadentia ‎(“falling”), from Latin cadō ‎(“I fall, I die”). See also cadence, from the same Latin root.

Pronunciation

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