English
happen
Happen comes from Middle English happenen, augmented from happen ‘to come to pass’ (hap ‘chance’ + -en).
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500happen‘to come to pass’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500happenen‘to happen’
- Englishearliest quotation 1860happen
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500happen‘to come to pass’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500happenen‘to happen’
- Englishearliest quotation 1860happen
Earliest quotation: 1860, Nathaniel Hawthorne: “Unexpectedly, in a nook close by the farmhouse, he…”
Formed from hap ‘a chance, occurrence, byfall’ + -en
Proto-Indo-European *kob-
Proto-Germanic *hampą ‘good luck, chance’
Old Norse happ ‘good luck’
Middle English hap ‘luck’
English hap
The story
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’).
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *hampą ‘happiness’
Today it means
verb To occur or take place.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English happen / happen