perchance en · ADV
Pronunciation
- [pɚˈt͡ʃʰɛə̯ns] (US)
- /pəˈtʃɑːns/ (UK)
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˌpɜːˈtʃɑːns/ (UK)
- (US) audio
- /ˌpɜɹˈtʃæns/ (US)
- [ˌpɝˈt͡ʃʰɛə̯ns] (US)
- /pəɹˈtʃæns/ (US)
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Italic *per Latin per Old French par Proto-Indo-European *ḱad- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *ḱádeti Proto-Italic *kadō Latin cadō Latin cadēns Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Vulgar Latin *cadentia Old French cheance Old French par cheanceder. Middle English parchaunce English perchance From Middle English parchaunce, from Old French par cheance (“by chance”).
Meanings
-
(humorous, literary, not-comparable) Perhaps.
Perchance he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill, as that he knows not it tolls for him[…]
1624, John Donne, chapter XVII, in Deuotions upon Emergent Occasions, and Seuerall Steps in My Sicknes: […], London: […] A[ugustine] M[atthews] for Thomas Iones, →OCLC:“Yet pull not down my palace towers, that are / So lightly, beautifully built: / Perchance I may return with others there / When I have purged my guilt.”
1842, Alfred Tennyson, “The Palace of Art”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 154:A great black bird, Apollyon's bosom-friend, / Sailed past, nor beat his wide wing dragon-penned / That brushed my cap—perchance the guide I sought.
1855, Robert Browning, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”, section XXVII:You wouldn't, perchance, have a bottle opener on you, would you?
Coordinates
definitely · perforce · inevitably · probably · certainly
Synonyms
by chance · by any chance · mayhap · possibly · peradventure · maybe · perhaps
Translations (9)
nl mogelijkerwijs (perhaps, by chance) · pdt veleicht (perhaps, by chance) · pl być może (perhaps, by chance) · bg може би (perhaps, by chance) · mr यदाकदाचित (perhaps, by chance) · pl przypadkiem (perhaps, by chance) · bg случайно (perhaps, by chance) · pt porventura (perhaps, by chance) · es por ventura (perhaps, by chance)