Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Happen in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels happen as verb. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913verb
Happen

[OE. happenen, hapnen. See Hap to happen.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordhappen
Part of speechverb
Historical etymology[OE. happenen, hapnen. See Hap to happen.]
Selected historical definitionTo come by chance; to come without previous expectation; to fall out.
Signed record IDwebster1913-happen-verb-a88229ffce82
Source locatorCIDE.H, paragraph 1168; Gutenberg eBook 663
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 663Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "happen" is labeled verb. Its etymology is recorded as: "[OE. happenen, hapnen. See Hap to happen.]" The selected historical definition says: "To come by chance; to come without previous expectation; to fall out."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-09-05

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

More released H records

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noun

Hope

[AS., akin to D. hoop, hope, Sw. hopp, Dan. haab, MHG. hoffe. Hope in forlorn hope is different word. See Forlorn hope, under Forlorn.]

Webster 1913 exact recordadverb

Hard

[OE. harde, AS. hearde.]

Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Hold

[D. hol hole, hollow. See Hole.]

Webster 1913 exact record

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