hap
How to Use Hap
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishAn old word for luck or chance — rarely used now except in "happen," "happy," and "haphazard."
You will almost never hear "hap" alone in modern English; it survives mainly inside other words.
Trace the full origin ↓Word Forms
happed past tense, happed past tense, haps plural, haps plural, haps plural, haps plural, haps singular, haps singular
Fill the Gap
Can you complete this real example?
Whatever _____ befell them, they faced it together.
Etymology
From Middle English hap ("chance, luck"), related to Old Norse happ ("good luck"). The modern words "happen" and "happy" both grow from this same root.