hap

See also: HAP, háp, hấp, håp, hạp, and нар

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hæp/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æp

Etymology 1

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”).

Noun

hap (plural haps)

1. (slang, in the plural) Happenings; events; goings-on.
   • 2018, Something Fishy (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: The Series):

     Katie Griffin as Samantha Sparks: "Hey, Flint. I heard your extended (gasp) earlier. What's the haps?"
     Mark Edwards as Flint Lockwood: "The haps is -- you're not going to believe this, but dad asked me to make him an invention!"

2. (archaic) That which happens; an occurrence or happening, especially an unexpected, random, chance, or fortuitous event; chance; fortune; luck.
   • c. 1580s, Sir Philip Sidney, The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia, book 2:

     Cursed be good haps, and cursed be they that build / Their hopes on haps, and do not make despair / For all these certain blows the surest shield.

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, book 2, canto 3, verse 30:

     And whether art it were, or heedless hap, / As through the flowring forest rash she fled, / In her rude hairs sweet flowres themselves did lap / And flourishing fresh leaves and blossoms did enwrap.

   • 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 23, column 1:

     Each day ſtill better others happineſſe,
     Vntill the heauens enuying earths good hap,
     Adde an immortall title to your Crowne.

   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 3 Scene 1:

     URSULA. She's lim'd, I warrant you: we have caught her, madam.
     HERO. If it prove so, then loving goes by haps
     Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.

   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:

     [I]t hath been many an honest man's hap to pass for the father of children he never begot […]

   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick:

     He at once resolved to accompany me to that island, ship aboard the same vessel, get into the same watch, the same boat, the same mess with me, in short to share my every hap; with both my hands in his, boldly dip into the Potluck of both worlds.

Synonyms

• (happenings): affairs; see also Thesaurus:occurrence
• (an unexpected, random, chance, or fortuitous event): hazard, serendipity; see also Thesaurus:luck

Derived terms

• hapful
• haphazard
• hapless
• haply
• happen
• happenstance
• happy
• hapsome
• mayhap
• mishap
• perhaps

 

See also

• what's the haps

Verb

hap (third-person singular simple present haps, present participle happing, simple past and past participle happed)

1. (intransitive, literary) To happen; to befall; to chance.

   Synonyms: come to pass, occur, transpire; see also Thesaurus:happen

   • 1868-9, Robert Browning, “The Ring and the Book”, in Edward Berdoe, editor, The poetical works of Robert Browning, published 1889, page 17:

     "But laudably, since thus it happed!" quoth one: Whereat, more witness and the case postponed. "Thus it happed not, since thus he did the deed,....

   • 1982, Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything, page 81:

     "We must go there to retrieve it before the Krikkit robots find it, or who knows what may hap."

2. (transitive, literary) To happen to.
   • 1891, Elizabeth Stoddard, “No Answer”, in Harper's magazine, page 55:

     What meaneth June, to hap us every year.

Etymology 2

From Old English hap.

Noun

hap (plural haps)

1. (UK, Scotland, Western Pennsylvania) 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.

Derived terms

• hap-harlot

Verb

hap (third-person singular simple present haps, present participle happing, simple past and past participle happed)

1. (dialect) To wrap, clothe.
   • 1859, John Brown, Rab and his Friends:

     The surgeon happed her up carefully.

   • 1899, “Bartonshill Coal Co. v. Beid, 1 Pat. Sc. App. 792, 793.”, in Robert Campbell, editor, Ruling cases, volume 19:

     The practice was, before firing a shot for the purpose of blasting, to give an order to hap the crane, that is, to cover it, in order to protect it from the effect of the shot.

Etymology 3

Shortening of New Latin Haplochromis

Noun

hap (plural haps)

1. Any of the cichlid fishes of the tribe Haplochromini.

Anagrams

• AHP, PAH, PHA, Pha, pah

Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *skapa, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kep- (“to cut, split, dig”). Compare English shape, German schaffen (“make, create”). Alternatively from Proto-Indo-European *upo (“up from under, over”). Compare Low German apen, Icelandic opna, Norwegian åpne (“to open”), English open.

Verb

hap (aorist hapa, participle hapur)

1. to open

   Synonym: çel

Conjugation

Standard Albanian conjugation of hap (active voice)

• Show compound tenses:  

		participle		hapur
		gerund		duke hapur
		infinitive		për të hapur
singular			plural
1st pers.	2nd pers.	3rd pers.	1st pers.	2nd pers.	3rd pers.
indicative	present	hap	hap	hap	hapim	hapni	hapin
	imperfect	hapja	hapje	hapte	hapnim	hapnit	hapnin
	aorist	hapa	hape	hapi	hapëm	hapët	hapën
perfect	kam hapur	ke hapur	ka hapur	kemi hapur	keni hapur	kanë hapur
past perfect	kisha hapur	kishe hapur	kishte hapur	kishim hapur	kishit hapur	kishin hapur
aorist II	pata hapur	pate hapur	pati hapur	patëm hapur	patët hapur	patën hapur
future1	do të hap	do të hapësh	do të hapë	do të hapim	do të hapni	do të hapin
future perfect2	do të kem hapur	do të kesh hapur	do të ketë hapur	do të kemi hapur	do të keni hapur	do të kenë hapur
subjunctive	present	të hap	të hapësh	të hapë	të hapim	të hapni	të hapin
imperfect	të hapja	të hapje	të hapte	të hapnim	të hapnit	të hapnin
perfect	të kem hapur	të kesh hapur	të ketë hapur	të kemi hapur	të keni hapur	të kenë hapur
past perfect	të kisha hapur	të kishe hapur	të kishte hapur	të kishim hapur	të kishit hapur	të kishin hapur
conditional1, 2	imperfect	do të hapja	do të hapje	do të hapte	do të hapnim	do të hapnit	do të hapnin
	past perfect	do të kisha hapur	do të kishe hapur	do të kishte hapur	do të kishim hapur	do të kishit hapur	do të kishin hapur
optative	present	hapsha	hapsh	haptë	hapshim	hapshit	hapshin
perfect	paça hapur	paç hapur	pastë hapur	paçim hapur	paçit hapur	paçin hapur
admirative	present	hapkam	hapke	hapka	hapkemi	hapkeni	hapkan
	imperfect	hapkësha	hapkëshe	hapkësh	hapkëshim	hapkëshit	hapkëshin
perfect	paskam hapur	paske hapur	paska hapur	paskemi hapur	paskeni hapur	paskan hapur
past perfect	paskësha hapur	paskëshe hapur	paskësh hapur	paskëshim hapur	paskëshit hapur	paskëshin hapur
imperative	present	—	hap	—	—	hapni	—
1) indicative future identical with conditional present 2) indicative future perfect identical with conditional perfect

Derived terms

• hapem
• hapje
• hapur
• hep

 

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɦɑp/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: hap
• Rhymes: -ɑp

Etymology 1

Possibly borrowed from French happer (“to bite, snap”), but both are ultimately imitative either way.

Noun

hap m (plural happen, diminutive hapje n)

1. (often diminutive) bite

   De hond nam er een hap van.

   The dog took a bite of it.

2. chunk
3. (often diminutive) snack, light meal

   Ik heb wel trek in een warme hap.

   I would certainly like a warm meal.

Derived terms

• bamihap
• hapjespan

 

Descendants

• → Papiamentu: hap
• → Indonesian: hap

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

hap

1. inflection of happen:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative

Irish

Alternative forms

• hop

Etymology

Onomatopoeic

Noun

hap m (genitive singular hap, nominative plural hapanna)

1. hop
2. blow

Declension

Declension of hap (fourth declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative hap hapanna vocative a hap a hapanna genitive hap hapanna dative hap hapanna forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an hap na hapanna genitive an hap na hapanna dative leis an hap don hap leis na hapanna

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “hap”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• “hap”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024

Middle English

Alternative forms

• happe, hape, heppe

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Norse happ.

Noun

hap (plural happes)

1. luck (whether good or bad)

Descendants

• English: hap
• Yola: hap

References

• “hap, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish حب (hap), from Arabic حَبّ (ḥabb, “grains, seeds, pills”).

Noun

hap n (plural hapuri)

1. pill (medicine)

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	hap	hapul		hapuri	hapurile
genitive-dative	hap	hapului		hapuri	hapurilor
vocative	hapule			hapurilor

Seri

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʔɑp/

Noun

hap (plural hap)

1. deer

   Synonym: ziix heecot quiih

Derived terms

• hap itaamalca quih an ihatoaasxaj
• hap itapxeen
• hap oaacajam
• ipnaail (“skirt”)

 

References

• Moser, Mary B., Marlett, Stephen A. (2010) Comcaac quih yaza quih hant ihiip hac: cmiique iitom - cocsar iitom - maricaana iitom [Seri-Spanish-English Dictionary], 2nd edition, Hermosillo: Plaza y Valdés Editores, →ISBN, page 334.

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English half.

Noun

hap

1. half
   • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 1:6:

     Bihain God i tok olsem, “Wanpela banis i mas kamap bilong banisim wara, bai wara i stap long tupela hap.” Orait dispela banis i kamap. God i mekim dispela banis i kamap bilong banisim wara antap na wara daunbilo.

     →New International Version translation

2. part
   • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 2:21:

     Orait God, Bikpela i mekim man i slip i dai tru. Na taim man i slip yet, God i kisim wanpela bun long banis bilong man na i pasim gen skin bilong dispela hap.

     →New International Version translation

3. place, one of a few places
   • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 1:22:

     Na God i mekim gutpela tok bilong givim strong long ol. Em i tokim ol olsem, “Yupela ol kain kain samting bilong solwara, yupela i mas kamap planti na pulapim olgeta hap bilong solwara. Na yupela ol pisin, yupela i mas kamap planti long graun.”

     →New International Version translation

Adverb

hap

1. there

Derived terms

• hap sankamap

Turkish

Etymology

From Arabic حَبّ (ḥabb, “grains, seeds, pills”).

Noun

hap (definite accusative hapı, plural haplar)

1. pill

Declension

Inflection
Nominative	hap
Definite accusative	hapı
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	hap	haplar
Definite accusative	hapı	hapları
Dative	hapa	haplara
Locative	hapta	haplarda
Ablative	haptan	haplardan
Genitive	hapın	hapların

Descendants

• Greek: χάπι (chápi, “pill”)

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hap/

Noun

hap f or m (plural hapau or hapiau, not mutable)

1. chance, luck

   Antonym: anap

Derived terms

• ar hap (“by chance, at random”)
• hapddewis (“random choice”)
• hapnewidyn (“random variable”)

References

• Delyth Prys, J.P.M. Jones, Owain Davies, Gruffudd Prys (2006) Y Termiadur: termau wedi'u safoni; standardised terminology‎^[1] (in Welsh), Cardiff: Awdurdod cymwysterau, cwricwlwm ac asesu Cymru (Qualifications curriculum & assessment authority for Wales), →ISBN
• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “hap”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English hap, from Old Norse happ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hap/

Noun

hap

1. chance, look
   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 10, page 88:

     Th' hap, an ee ferde, an ee crie, was Tommeen.

     The chance, and the fear, and the cry, was Tommeen.

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 44