serendipity
/Λser.ΙnΛdΙͺp.Ι.ti/
1
The occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.
"A fortunate stroke of serendipity brought the two old friends together after twenty years."
General
2
A faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident.
"The scientist attributed his breakthrough to serendipity rather than rigorous planning."
Formal
chance
fortune
luck
happenstance
providence
coincidence
fluke
happy accident
stroke of luck
serendipity
First recorded in 1754 by Horace Walpole in a letter to a friend. The word was coined from the Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip (Serendip being an old name for Sri Lanka), whose heroes were always making discoveries by accidents and sagacity of things they were not in quest of.
Old Persian: Serendip
1754: English
Countable vs. Uncountable: While traditionally treated as an uncountable noun, modern usage increasingly accepts "a serendipity" or "serendipities" in specific contexts.
Register: Formal to neutral. Often used in literary, academic, and conversational contexts to describe unexpected positive outcomes.
Common Collocations: pure serendipity, stroke of serendipity, happy serendipity.