Definitions for happen
ˈhæp ənhap·pen

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

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(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. happenverb

   To occur or take place.

   Let me tell you how it happened.

   Etymology: From happenen

2. happenverb

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

   Take an umbrella in case it happens to rain.

   Etymology: From happenen

3. happenverb

   To encounter by chance.

   Etymology: From happenen

4. happenadverb

   maybe, perhaps.

   Etymology: From happenen

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Happenverb

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

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

2. Happenverb

   to take place; to occur

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

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

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

1. • Chance
   • Happen

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?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

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. Sean Covell:

   Business owners have been called 'killers' for trying to provide for their employees and families, today, we aim to make sure these violations of our humanity never happen again.

2. Bob McDevitt:

   Trump Entertainment Taj Mahal will never turn around and be successful without the full participation and involvement of Trump Entertainment Taj Mahal workers. Trump Entertainment Taj Mahal wo n’t happen while people have to worry about their future.

3. Tiger Woods:

   I think that just like all events, you're trying to get the top players to play more collectively, and so this is a natural evolution, whether or not things like this are going to happen. But ideas like this are going to happen going forward, whether it's now or any other time in the future.

4. James Lovell, speech to Girl Scouts in DuPage County, Illinois, 1997 - quoted in the Chicago Tribune 2-3-03:

   There are people who make things happen, there are people who watch things happen, and there are people who wonder what happened. To be successful, you need to be a person who makes things happen.

5. Gary Peters:

   We're also looking at some intelligence failures, and some recommendations roughly regarding the National Guard, but it's meant to be an opportunity to look at some quick recommendations for some relatively quick action to make sure that we're safeguarding the Capitol, we're dealing with a very complex issue here that, and the more folks that are looking into it the better, because ultimately, we want to make sure that what we saw happen on January 6th never happens again.

Popularity rank by frequency of use