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Definition: Serendipity |
SerendipityNoun1. Pure luck in discovering things you were not looking for. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
| Domain | Definitions |
Mining | Phenomenon whereby an unsought-for discovery is more important than the expected one. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The word was coined by Horace Walpole in the 18th century, from the Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip (Serendip is an old name for the island now known as Sri Lanka)
It is used as a sociological method in Anselm L. Strauss' and Barney G. Glaserss Grounded Theory, building on ideas by sociologist Robert K. Merton, who in Social Theory and Social Structure (1949) claimed that serendipity was an Indian concept.
Serendipity is also the name of a club in New York City where Andy Warhol used to frequent.
In addition, Serendipity is the name of a romantic movie starring Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Serendipity."
| Domain | Usage | |
Movie/TV Titles | Welcome to Serendipity (1998) The Serendipity Singers Show (1986) | |
Song Titles | DON'T LET THE RAIN COME DOWN (performing artist: Serendipity Singers) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books | |||
Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | The apoE4 gene came to light through long, patient detective work topped off by the serendipity that sometimes occurs in science. (references) | |
Without knowledge concerning anticipated objective physiologic end points, trials to establish effective therapeutic regimens are empiric and new initiatives largely exercises in serendipity. (references) | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Serendipity" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Serendipity" is used about 24 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 24 | 71,196 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "serendipity"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | نعمت غیرمترقبه (Godsend), تحصیل نعمت غیرمترقبه , خوشبختی (Luck). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Entdeckung (detection, discovery, finding, recovering, spotting). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | scoperta (detection, disclosure, discovery, find, finding, strike). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | erendipitysay везучесть, интуитивная прозорливость. (various references) sposobnost srećnog, slučajnog otkrivanja. (various references) förmåga att av en lycklig slump göra en upptäckt. (various references) การมีโชคในการค้นพบสิ่งต้องการโดยบังเอิญ. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Misspellings | |
"Serendipity" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: sarendipity, selendipity, senendipity, serandipity, serebdipity, seredipity, seremdipity, serendepity, serendipidy, serendipit, serendipitty, serendipitu, serendipiy, serendipiyy, serendippity, serendipty, serendiputy, serenedipity, serenpidity, serentipity, serindipity, serndipity, serrendipity, serrindipity, sirendipity, srendipity, surendipity. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "serendipity" (pronounced se'rundi"putē) |
| 4 | -p u t ē | uppity. |
| 3 | -u t ē | ability, abnormality, absurdity, acceptability, accessibility, accountability, acidity, activity, actuality, acuity, adaptability, admissibility, adversity, advisability, affinity, affordability, aggressivity, agility, alacrity, alkalinity, ambiguity, amenity, amiability, amity, analyticity, animosity, annuity, anonymity, antiquity, anxiety, applicability, atrocity, audacity, austerity, authenticity, authority, availability, banality, barbarity, believability, bestiality, biodiversity, bisexuality, brevity, brutality, calamity, capability, capacity, captivity, causality, cavity, celebrity, centrality, charity, chastity, civility, clarity, collegiality, commodity, commonality, community, comparability, compatibility, complexity, complicity, comprehensibility, conditionality, conductivity, confidentiality, conformity, congeniality, congruity, connectivity, constitutionality, continuity, convertibility, creativity, credibility, credulity, criminality, criticality, crotchety, culpability, curiosity, cyclicality, debility, deductibility, deformity, deity, deniability, density, dependability, depravity, deputy, desirability, dexterity, dignity, dimensionality, disability, discontinuity, disparity, dissimilarity, disunity, diversity, divinity, docility, domesticity, duality, ductility, duplicity, durability, eccentricity, elasticity, electability, electricity, eligibility, enforceability, enmity, enormity, entity, equality, equanimity, equity, eternity, ethnicity, eventuality, exclusivity, expressivity, extraterritoriality, extremity, facility, fallibility, falsity, familiarity, fatality, feasibility, Felicity, femininity, ferocity, fertility, festivity, fidelity, finality, flammability, flexibility, fluidity, formality, fragility, fraternity, frivolity, frugality, functionality, futility, generality, generosity, geniality, gentility, gratuity, gravity, gullibility, heredity, heterogeneity, heterosexuality, hilarity, homogeneity, homosexuality, hospitality, hostility, humanity, humidity, humility, hyperactivity, hypersensitivity, identity, illegality, illiquidity, immaturity, immobility, immorality, immortality, immunity, impartiality, impersonality, impossibility, impropriety, impunity, impurity, inability, inaccessibility, inactivity, incapacity, incivility, incompatibility, incongruity, incredulity, indemnity, indestructibility, indignity, individuality, inequality, inequity, inevitability, infallibility, inferiority, infertility, infidelity, infinity, infirmity, inflexibility, informality, ingenuity, inhumanity, insanity, insecurity, insensitivity, instability, instrumentality, insularity, integrity, intensity, invincibility, invisibility, invulnerability, irrationality, irregularity, irresponsibility, irritability, laity, laxity, legality, legibility, lethality, levity, liability, liberality, liquidity, lividity, locality, longevity, majority, malleability, maneuverability, marketability, masculinity, materiality, maternity, maturity, mediocrity, mendacity, mentality, minority, miscibility, mobility, modality, modernity, monstrosity, morality, morbidity, mortality, motility, multiplicity, municipality, musicality, mutuality, nationality, nativity, necessity, negativity, neutrality, nobility, Nonconformity, nonentity, nonutility, normality, notoriety, nudity, obesity, objectivity, obscenity, obscurity, oddity, opacity, opportunity, originality, overcapacity, oversensitivity, palatability, parity, partiality, particularity, passivity, paternity, paucity, peculiarity, permeability, perpetuity, perplexity, personality, perversity, piety, plausibility, plurality, polarity, polity, pomposity, popularity, portability, possibility, posterity, practicality, predictability, principality, priority, probability, probity, proclivity, productivity, profanity, profitability, progressivity, promiscuity, propensity, proportionality, propriety, prosperity, proximity, publicity, punctuality, purity, quality, quantity, radioactivity, rapidity, rarity, rationality, reactivity, readability, reality, receptivity, reciprocity, reflexivity, regularity, relativity, reliability, religiosity, respectability, responsibility, retroactivity, rickety, rigidity, salinity, sanctity, sanity, scarcity, seasonality, security, selectivity, senility, seniority, sensibility, sensitivity, sensuality, sentimentality, serenity, severity, sexuality, similarity, simplicity, sincerity, sobriety, society, solemnity, solidarity, solidity, sorority, speciality, specificity, spirituality, spontaneity, stability, sterility, stupidity, subjectivity, suitability, superconductivity, superfluidity, superiority, supermajority, surety, survivability, susceptibility, sustainability, technicality, temerity, tenacity, theatricality, timidity, tonality, totality, toxicity, tranquility, transferability, Trinity, triviality, turbidity, ubiquity, unanimity, unavailability, unfamiliarity, uniformity, unity, universality, university, unpopularity, unpredictability, unreality, unreliability, utility, validity, vanity, variability, variety, varsity, velocity, velvety, venality, veracity, Verity, versatility, viability, vicinity, virginity, virility, virtuosity, viscosity, visibility, vitality, volatility, voracity, vulgarity, vulnerability. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "d-e-e-i-i-n-p-r-s-t-y" | |
-1 letter: pteridines. | |
-2 letters: president, pteridine, pyridines. | |
-3 letters: disinter, inditers, inserted, inspired, intrepid, nerdiest, niteries, nitrides, pineries, preedits, pretends, priested, pristine, pyridine, resident, respited, riptides, serenity, siderite, sintered, spirited, sprinted, tiderips, trendies, yperites. | |
-4 letters: deities, deniers, density, despite, destine, destiny, diester, dieters, dipnets, dirties, ditsier, endites, entires, entries, erepsin, inditer, indites, insider, inspire, nereids, niterie, nitride. | |
| Words containing the letters "d-e-e-i-i-n-p-r-s-t-y" | |
+3 letters: dryopithecines, polyneuritides, presidentially. | |
+4 letters: hypersensitized, serendipitously. | |
+5 letters: pyelonephritides. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)53 65 72 65 6E 64 69 70 69 74 79 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)... . .-. . -. -.. .. .--. .. - -.--. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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| Amazon.com BOOKS: Search for: "serendipity" |
