mischance

English

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman meschance, Old French meschance, meschaunce.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /mɪsˈtʃɑːns/

Noun

mischance (countable and uncountable, plural mischances)

1. Bad luck, misfortune.
   • 1601, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, V.2:

     But let this same be presently perform'd / Even when men's minds are wild, lest more mischance / On plots and errors happen.

2. A mishap, an unlucky circumstance.
   • 1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy, Oxford: Printed by Iohn Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, OCLC 216894069; The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd corrected and augmented edition, Oxford: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, 1624, OCLC 54573970, partition II, section 3, member 3:

     He doth miraculously protect from thieves, incursions, sword, fire, and all violent mischances […]

Verb

mischance (third-person singular simple present mischances, present participle mischancing, simple past and past participle mischanced)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To undergo (a misfortune); to suffer (something unfortunate).

Anagrams

• mechanics