perchance
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English parchaunce, from Old French par cheance (“by chance”).
Pronunciation edit
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˌpɜːˈtʃɑːns/, /pəˈtʃɑːns/
Audio (Southern England, /pə-/) (file)
- (US) IPA(key): /ˌpɜɹˈtʃæns/, /pəɹˈtʃæns/, [ˌpɝˈt͡ʃʰɛə̯ns], [pɚˈt͡ʃʰɛə̯ns]
- Rhymes: -ɑːns, -æns
Adverb edit
perchance (not comparable)
- perhaps; by chance
- You wouldn't, perchance, have a bottle opener on you, would you?
- 1624, John Donne, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, section XVII:
- Perchance he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill, as that he knows not it tolls for him […]
- 1855, Robert Browning, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”, section XXVII:
- 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.
Synonyms edit
Translations edit
perhaps, by chance
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