bechance

B3E1C3H4A1N1C3E1
/bɪˈt͡ʃæns//bɪˈt͡ʃɑːns/

verb

To happen; chance.

Scrabble 17

Meanings

bechance1

verbbechance (third-person singular simple present bechances, present participle bechancing, simple past and past participle bechanced)

present singular third person bechances · participle present bechancing · participle past bechanced · past bechanced

  1. intransitiveTo happen; chance.

    Synonyms: come to pass

  2. archaictransitiveTo happen (to); befall to.

    Disturb his hours of rest with restless trances, / Afflict him in his bed with bedrid groans; / Let there bechance him pitiful mischances, / To make him moan; but pity not his moans: / Stone him with harden'd hearts, harder than stones

    1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto), London: […] Richard Field, for Iohn Harrison, […], →OCLC

bechance2

adverbbechance (not comparable)
  1. not comparableAccidentally; by chance.

    [Y]et we haue withſtood them till at the last battayle of Branxſton, where we bechaunce loſt our ſouereigne Lorde, and many noble men, but that was by treaſon of his Lord Chamberleyn, and yet I thinke we wanne the field: […]

    1569, Richard Grafton, “Henry the Eyght”, in A Chronicle at Large and Meere History of the Affayres of Englande […], volume II, London: […] Henry Denham, […], for Richarde Tottle and Humffrey Toye, →OCLC, page 1073

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo happen; chance.

More synonyms by meaning

verbbecome of; happen to

verbhappen, occur, or be the case in the course of events or by chance

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

bechance · verb

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁ep-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éps
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₁épi
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₁pi
  5. Proto-Germanic*bi
  6. Proto-Germanic*bi-
  7. Proto-West Germanic*bi-
  8. Old Englishbe-
  9. Middle Englishbi-
  10. Englishbe-
  11. Englishchance
  12. Englishbechance

From be- + chance.

Full word history & related roots →

bechance · adverb

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁ep-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éps
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₁épi
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₁pi
  5. Proto-Germanic*bi
  6. Proto-Germanic*bi-
  7. Proto-West Germanic*bi-
  8. Old Englishbe-
  9. Middle Englishbi-
  10. Englishbe-
  11. Proto-Indo-European*ḱad-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*ḱádeti
  13. Proto-Italic*kadō
  14. Latincadō
  15. Latincadēns
  16. Vulgar Latin*cadentia
  17. Anglo-Normancheance
  18. Middle Englishchaunce
  19. Englishchance
  20. Englishbechance

From be- (“by”) + chance.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with bechance

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

bechance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bechance

MLA

“bechance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bechance. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bechance,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bechance.

Source: bechance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.