coincidence
/kəʊˈɪnsɪdəns/koh-IN-sih-duhns
/koʊˈɪnsɪdəns/koh-IN-sih-duhns
Meaningthe act of falling together
Common meaning: a chance happening of two things at once
- cotogether, jointly
- inin, into; (before adjectives) not
- cidto fallLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 258 (approximate) · scan
- encenoun ending: doing, or the condition that results
‘together, jointly’ + ‘in, into’ + ‘to fall’ → coincidence
Journey through time
- Latincadō, cecidī, cāsum‘to fall’
- Englishcoincide‘to fall together in time or space’
- Englishformed in English from coincidecoincidence‘a chance happening of two things at once’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from coincide + -ence.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), COINCIDE, p.121 · scan
Roots
- cadō, cecidī, cāsum Latin “to fall”
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