Meanings
- archaicliteraryBy accident or luck.
But as soon as her son espied her, bowl in hand, he thought that haply something untoward had befallen her, but he would not ask of aught until such time as she had set down the bowl, when she acquainted him with that which had occurred[…]
1885–1888, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume (please specify the volume), [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLC - archaicliteraryPerhaps; by chance.
Arise, and lift up your voices, that haply they that are fast asleep may be awakened.
1935, Baháʼu'lláh, translated by Shoghi Effendi, Gleanings from the Writings of Baháʼu'lláh, Bahá'í Publishing Trust, section CVI2 more examples
"O my lord the Sultan," said the other [the Wazir], "verily women be weakly of wits, and haply this goodwife cometh hither to complain before thee against her goodman or some of her people."
1885–1888, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume (please specify the volume), [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLC"Ha," quoth he to himself, "I will go and inquire into this business, for it may haply be that yonder black knight shall not find it to be so easy to deal with a knight of the Round Table as with those other three knights."
1905, Howard Pyle, The Story of the Champions of the Round Table, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 28
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbby accident
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishhappely
- Englishhaply
Inherited from Middle English happely, hapliche, happeliche; equivalent to hap + -ly.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
haply. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/haply
“haply.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/haply. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “haply,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/haply.
Source: haply on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.