serendipity
- The occurrence of fortunate discoveries or events by happy accident rather than deliberate search.
In a sentence
- It was pure serendipity that she ran into her future business partner at a delayed flight gate.
- Many scientific breakthroughs — penicillin among them — owe as much to serendipity as to rigorous research.
Usage note. Serendipity implies not just luck but a fortunate, often meaningful discovery; avoid using it as a plain synonym for 'coincidence,' which carries no positive connotation.
Where it comes from
English serendipity · entered English 1754
Coined in English by writer Horace Walpole in a 1754 letter, based on the Persian fairy tale 'The Three Princes of Serendip,' in which the heroes make clever discoveries by chance — 'Serendip' being an old Persian name for Sri Lanka (from Sanskrit 'Simhaladvipa'). The word entered wider use only in the 20th century and is now well established. Its formation is English, but its roots trace back through Persian to Sanskrit.