Mishap

Mishap

Noun · /ˈmɪs.hæp/

Definition

An unlucky accident or minor misfortune; an event that goes wrong, typically causing inconvenience or mild injury rather than serious harm.

Origin

From mis- (wrongly, badly) + hap (luck, fortune, chance, from Old Norse happ, good luck, chance). The compound thus means bad luck or a bad chance event. The Old Norse happ gives happen (to come about by chance), happy (fortunate, originally from having good hap), perhaps, and mishap. The word hap itself — meaning luck or fortune — is largely archaic in Modern English though it survives in happy, hapless, happenstance, mishap, and perhaps. Mishap has been in English since the 14th century.