What does happen mean?

Definitions for happen
ˈhæp ənhap·pen

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word happen.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. happen, hap, go on, pass off, occur, pass, fall out, come about, take placeverb

    come to pass

    "What is happening?"; "The meeting took place off without an incidence"; "Nothing occurred that seemed important"

  2. happen, befall, bechanceverb

    happen, occur, or be the case in the course of events or by chance

    "It happens that today is my birthday"; "These things befell" (Santayana)

  3. happenverb

    chance to be or do something, without intention or causation

    "I happen to have just what you need!"

  4. happen, materialize, materialiseverb

    come into being; become reality

    "Her dream really materialized"

  5. find, happen, chance, bump, encounterverb

    come upon, as if by accident; meet with

    "We find this idea in Plato"; "I happened upon the most wonderful bakery not very far from here"; "She chanced upon an interesting book in the bookstore the other day"

Wiktionary

  1. happenverb

    To occur or take place.

    Let me tell you how it happened.

  2. happenverb

    To occur unexpectedly, by chance or with a low probability.

    Take an umbrella in case it happens to rain.

  3. happenverb

    To encounter by chance.

  4. happenadverb

    maybe, perhaps.

  5. Etymology: From happenen

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. To Happenverb

    Etymology: from hap.

    Bring forth your strong reasons, and shew us what shall happen. Is. xl. 22.

    Say not I have sinned, and what harm hath happened unto me. Ecclus. v. 4.

    If it so fall out that thou art miserable for ever, thou hast no reason to be surprized, as if some unexpected thing had happened to thee. John Tillotson, Sermons.

    I have happened on some other accounts relating to mortalities. John Graunt, Bills of Mortality.

ChatGPT

  1. happen

    Happen means to occur or take place; an event or situation that takes place without being planned or expected.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Happenverb

    to come by chance; to come without previous expectation; to fall out

  2. Happenverb

    to take place; to occur

  3. Etymology: [OE. happenen, hapnen. See Hap to happen.]

Editors Contribution

  1. happen

    To occur.

    The creation of peace is happening as we speak all around the world.


    Submitted by MaryC on February 16, 2020  

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'happen' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1376

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'happen' in Written Corpus Frequency: #552

  3. Verbs Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'happen' in Verbs Frequency: #64

How to pronounce happen?

How to say happen in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of happen in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of happen in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of happen in a Sentence

  1. Jane Ratliff:

    That’s how people communicate today, phone calls happen when people have time. People don’t always have time. And the older adult has to recognize that. And if you can text message in short bursts back and forth, you are going to have a conversation.

  2. Mark Zandi:

    It's clear that the pandemic is doing some fundamental damage to the job market, a lot of the jobs lost aren't coming back any time soon. The idea that The American economy is going to snap back to where The American economy was before the pandemic is clearly not going to happen.

  3. Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly:

    We're beginning to see states and cities open back up again, so one would think that people will also want to begin traveling again and we're hopeful that that will happen.

  4. The City Clerk:

    We appreciate the patience of all the people who are using the system and we just hope that everyone hangs in there, it's just a matter of us making things happen.

  5. Andy Cohen:

    I am tanorexic, Ilove the sun. And I of course never thought that kind of thing would happen to me, and it will change my relationship to the sun.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

happen#1#2877#10000

Translations for happen

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

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"happen." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/happen>.

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    an unfortunate mishap; especially one causing damage or injury
    A accident
    B scrutiny
    C model
    D rateables

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