perhapsadv.n.

Brit.

/pəˈhaps/,

/praps/, U.S.

/pərˈ(h)æps/

Forms: 1500s perhapis, 1500s perhappes, 1500s perhappis, 1500s– perhaps, 1500s– prehaps (now chiefly U.S. regional), 1600s perhapes, 1600s perhapps, 1900s– puhhaps (U.S. regional (chiefly in African-American usage)). See also p'raps adv.

Origin: Either (i) a borrowing from French, combined with an English element. Or (ii) a borrowing from Latin, combined with an English element. Etymons: French per ; Latin per , hap n.¹

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman per or its etymon classical Latin per (see per prep.) + the plural of hap n.¹, after peradventure adv., percase adv., perchance adv. Compare on haps , upon haps , in haps (see hap n.¹ Phrases 1a). Compare earlier perhap adv.Perhaps occurs only three times in the Bible of 1611, all in the New Testament, and all originally present in the Rheims New Testament (1582). It is unclear whether the following show earlier examples of this word or are rather transmission errors for an otherwise unattested word *perhappons or *perhappans (which would, however, be difficult to explain; perhaps compare later perhappen adv.):c1475 Advice to Lovers in J. O. Halliwell Select. Minor Poems J. Lydgate (1840) 34 She wol perhappous maken hir avowe.c1475 Advice to Lovers in J. O. Halliwell Select. Minor Poems J. Lydgate (1840) 35 Perhappous one is loved that wol not fade.

A. adv.

1. Expressing a hypothetical, contingent, conjectural, or uncertain possibility: it may be (that); maybe, possibly.

a. Modifying a statement or question.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [adverb] > perhaps

is wenc897

wen isc897

peradventurec1300

peradventurec1325

perchancec1350

uphapa1375

percasea1393

lightly1395

in casea1398

maybea1400

may chancea1400

may-falla1400

may-fortunea1400

may-tidea1400

perhapa1464

happen1487

perhapsc1520

percase1523

ablea1525

by chance1526

mayhap1533

fortunea1535

belikelya1551

haps1570

mayhappen1577

perhappen1578

possibly1600

not impossibly1667

ables1673

aunters1673

aiblins1720

p'rapsa1745

aunterens1825

mebbe1825

yes-no1898

yimkin1925

ja-nee1937

c1520 tr. Terence Andria v. iv, in Terens in Eng. sig. D.iii^v He shall here those thingis perhappis that he nold.

1598 F. Meres Palladis Tamia 286 To thinke on this, may pleasure be prehaps another day.

1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 110 Perhaps I haue seene a more sumptuous monument, but a more beautifull did I neuer see.

1677 Mr. Johnson Let. 16 Apr. in J. Ray Corr. (1848) 128 Perhaps I may give farther answer to this query.

1715 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad I. i. 125 Perhaps, with added Sacrifice and Pray'r, The Priest may pardon.

1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. xix. 210 Perhaps I shall never see him or happiness more.

1854 Harper's Mag. Feb. 428/2 The Illustrations of Lying were, perhaps, her happiest effort.

1876 T. Hardy Hand of Ethelberta II. xxxiii. 68 Mr. Julian says that perhaps he and his sister may also come for a few days before the season is over.

1929 J. B. Priestley Good Compan. i. v. 155 It was not perhaps the same Elizabeth Trant.

1991 Garden (Royal Hort. Soc.) Mar. 107/1 Should I perhaps have stuck to my old still camera and tried to master that?

b. Modifying a word or phrase independently.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [adverb]

welleOE

possiblyc1400

possiblea1425

contingentlyc1430

potentiallyc1450

perhapsa1535

as and when1565

conceivably1625

if you like1813

a1535 T. More Dialoge of Comfort (1553) iii. xxiv. sig. U.i^v But as it maie be perhappes ye, so it may be perhappes naye.

1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 6 The Towne..stretcheth along..perhaps a mile in length.

1712 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. (1889) III. 297 Perhaps ab^t y^e time of Edw. I. or later.

1835 H. Evans in Mississippi Valley Hist. Rev. (1927) 14 214 On finding we were here and would prehaps interfere they thought it best policy to fire off their guns.

1883 Manch. Examiner 29 Nov. 5/1 There are three, or perhaps four, courses open to us.

1917 V. Woolf Diary (1979) I. 78 After tea I had perhaps an hour over a log fire with Ottoline.

2002 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 8 Nov. e29/3 How amazingly capable some—perhaps all—human beings are of living very secret lives right out in the open.

2. In a conditional clause (with if, unless, lest, etc.): as may happen or be the case; as is possible; by any chance.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [adverb] > by any chance

peradventurec1325

percase1402

perchancea1425

perhapsc1520

anauntrins1676

by any chance1914

c1520 tr. Terence Andria i. v, in Terens in Eng. sig. B.i But herist not one word beware thow tell Nothing of the weddingys lest perhappis therby Her sorow shold increace.

1582 Bible (Rheims) Acts viii. 22 Pray to God, if perhaps this cogitation of thy hart may be remitted thee.

1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. vi. 281 Not one drop of water is to be found, vnlesse perhaps some raine falleth.

1672 T. Marshall Let. 19 Jan. in H. Hart Notes Cent. Typogr. Oxf. (1900) 166/2 Y^e Founders..have no regard to cutting and justifying, unless perhaps to supply a Defect, or two.

1783 S. Johnson Let. 31 Dec. (1994) IV. 266 I never saw her, unless perhaps, without knowing her, at a conversation.

1853 C. Kingsley Hypatia II. ix. 218 There they would repent, and pray, and mourn out life side by side, if perhaps God would have mercy upon their souls.

1891 Catholic World Dec. 346 Not one domestic animal has been discovered, unless perhaps some doubtful traces of canis familiaris.

1946 J. Hersey Father Walter P. Morse in Life Sketches (1991) 123 He underwent, he says, no emotional crisis that led him to take monastic orders, unless, perhaps, it was the separation from his mother.

1995 T. Parks Ital. Educ. 243 I have never in my life caught a fish, unless perhaps it was minnows and tiddlers in a net as a child.

B. n.

1. An instance of ‘perhaps’ used to qualify a statement; an expression of possibility combined with uncertainty, suspicion, or doubt; a doubtful statement.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [noun] > a possible thing or circumstance

possibilityc1460

perhapsa1535

potential1587

potentiality1587

maybe1598

contingencya1626

contingent1655

conceivable1659

possiblea1674

conceptiblea1676

cogitable1678

chance1778

it's an idea1841

may1849

might1850

thought1857

possibly1881

shot1923

the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [noun] > expression of possibility

perchance?1570

perhapsa1680

may1897

a1535 T. More Dialoge of Comfort (1553) iii. xxiv. sig. U.i^v All his forgeuenes goeth Cosin you se wel but by perhappes.

a1680 S. Charnock Wks. (1684) I. Suppl. 60 Little comfort can be suckt from a perhaps.

1707 E. Ward London Terræ-filius No. 3. 26 Ridiculous Conjecture, stuff'd..full of Maybe's, perhapse's, Rank Falsities, and Bifarious meanings.

1790 W. Cowper Let. 3 Jan. (1982) III. 325 I always feel in my heart a perhaps importing that we have possibly met for the last time.

1842 Times 18 Apr. 4/2 The ‘ifs’ and ‘perhapses’ with which unproven accusation are ushered into the world.

1866 J. Ruskin Ethics of Dust iv. 60 We can make ourselves uncomfortable to any extent with perhapses.

1976 P. Henissart Winter Quarry xx. 194 Perhaps you're telling the truth; it's a big perhaps.

2002 Church Times 6 Sept. 18/5 There are a lot of perhapses, but this is a book to make readers think.

2. Something that may or may not happen, exist, or be the case; a possibility.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [noun] > quality of

possibility1638

perhapsa1643

a1643 J. Shute Sarah & Hagar (1649) 38 Often have we known those that have cast themselves upon this perhaps, to have been taken away suddenly.

1771 H. Mackenzie Man of Feeling xxviii. 108 ‘What a wretch I am’, said he; ‘ere this time perhaps—’ 'Twas a perhaps not to be borne.

1843 T. Carlyle Past & Present iii. i. 185 We quietly believe this Universe to be intrinsically a great unintelligible Perhaps.

1927 T. Wilder Bridge San Luis Rey 37 A belief in the great Perhaps.

1949 D. L. Sayers tr. Dante Comedy I. viii. 110 Horrid perhapses throng my doubtful mind.

2003 St. John's Telgram (Newfoundland) (Nexis) 9 Apr. a13 I came up with all kinds of perhapses in an effort to avoid the inevitable face-to-face encounter with the truth.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	perhaps
释义	perhapsv. Brit. /pəˈhaps/, /praps/, U.S. /pərˈ(h)æps/ Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: perhaps adv. Etymology: < perhaps adv. rare. 1. intransitive. To use the word ‘perhaps’; to make doubtful or conjectural statements; to conjecture or speculate. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > disbelief, incredulity > disbelieve [verb (intransitive)] > express doubts perhaps1783 the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > doubt, be uncertain [verb (intransitive)] > express doubt perhaps1783 humph1814 vague1880 umph1894 to (light up and) say ‘tilt’1974 1783 J. Ritson Remarks Last Ed. Shakspeare 211 To depone, which dr. Johnson perhapses it should be, is the same as to depose, to swear, or give evidence upon oath. 1789 J. White Earl Strongbow II. 95 He, probably, would have continued perhapsing against Ireland. 1908 ‘J. Flynt’ My Life v. 76 Something in me says: ‘What is the use of “perhapsing” at this late hour?’ 1973 Times Lit. Suppl. 9 Nov. 1375/2 ‘This is perhaps their most obvious psychological function.’ On that sort of line, one can of course go on perhapsing away for ever. †2. transitive. To qualify with ‘perhaps’ as an expression of uncertainty. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > doubt [verb (transitive)] > express doubt perhaps1792 1792 Elvina I. 77 I perhaps'd every thing. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022). perhapsadv.n. Brit. /pəˈhaps/, /praps/, U.S. /pərˈ(h)æps/ Forms: 1500s perhapis, 1500s perhappes, 1500s perhappis, 1500s– perhaps, 1500s– prehaps (now chiefly U.S. regional), 1600s perhapes, 1600s perhapps, 1900s– puhhaps (U.S. regional (chiefly in African-American usage)). See also p'raps adv. Origin: Either (i) a borrowing from French, combined with an English element. Or (ii) a borrowing from Latin, combined with an English element. Etymons: French per ; Latin per , hap n.¹ Etymology: < Anglo-Norman per or its etymon classical Latin per (see per prep.) + the plural of hap n.¹, after peradventure adv., percase adv., perchance adv. Compare on haps , upon haps , in haps (see hap n.¹ Phrases 1a). Compare earlier perhap adv.Perhaps occurs only three times in the Bible of 1611, all in the New Testament, and all originally present in the Rheims New Testament (1582). It is unclear whether the following show earlier examples of this word or are rather transmission errors for an otherwise unattested word perhappons or perhappans (which would, however, be difficult to explain; perhaps compare later perhappen adv.):c1475 Advice to Lovers in J. O. Halliwell Select. Minor Poems J. Lydgate (1840) 34 She wol perhappous maken hir avowe.c1475 Advice to Lovers in J. O. Halliwell Select. Minor Poems J. Lydgate (1840) 35 Perhappous one is loved that wol not fade. A. adv. 1. Expressing a hypothetical, contingent, conjectural, or uncertain possibility: it may be (that); maybe, possibly. a. Modifying a statement or question. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [adverb] > perhaps is wenc897 wen isc897 peradventurec1300 peradventurec1325 perchancec1350 uphapa1375 percasea1393 lightly1395 in casea1398 maybea1400 may chancea1400 may-falla1400 may-fortunea1400 may-tidea1400 perhapa1464 happen1487 perhapsc1520 percase1523 ablea1525 by chance1526 mayhap1533 fortunea1535 belikelya1551 haps1570 mayhappen1577 perhappen1578 possibly1600 not impossibly1667 ables1673 aunters1673 aiblins1720 p'rapsa1745 aunterens1825 mebbe1825 yes-no1898 yimkin1925 ja-nee1937 c1520 tr. Terence Andria v. iv, in Terens in Eng. sig. D.iii^v He shall here those thingis perhappis that he nold. 1598 F. Meres Palladis Tamia 286 To thinke on this, may pleasure be prehaps another day. 1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 110 Perhaps I haue seene a more sumptuous monument, but a more beautifull did I neuer see. 1677 Mr. Johnson Let. 16 Apr. in J. Ray Corr. (1848) 128 Perhaps I may give farther answer to this query. 1715 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad I. i. 125 Perhaps, with added Sacrifice and Pray'r, The Priest may pardon. 1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. xix. 210 Perhaps I shall never see him or happiness more. 1854 Harper's Mag. Feb. 428/2 The Illustrations of Lying were, perhaps, her happiest effort. 1876 T. Hardy Hand of Ethelberta II. xxxiii. 68 Mr. Julian says that perhaps he and his sister may also come for a few days before the season is over. 1929 J. B. Priestley Good Compan. i. v. 155 It was not perhaps the same Elizabeth Trant. 1991 Garden (Royal Hort. Soc.) Mar. 107/1 Should I perhaps have stuck to my old still camera and tried to master that? b. Modifying a word or phrase independently. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [adverb] welleOE possiblyc1400 possiblea1425 contingentlyc1430 potentiallyc1450 perhapsa1535 as and when1565 conceivably1625 if you like1813 a1535 T. More Dialoge of Comfort (1553) iii. xxiv. sig. U.i^v But as it maie be perhappes ye, so it may be perhappes naye. 1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 6 The Towne..stretcheth along..perhaps a mile in length. 1712 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. (1889) III. 297 Perhaps ab^t y^e time of Edw. I. or later. 1835 H. Evans in Mississippi Valley Hist. Rev. (1927) 14 214 On finding we were here and would prehaps interfere they thought it best policy to fire off their guns. 1883 Manch. Examiner 29 Nov. 5/1 There are three, or perhaps four, courses open to us. 1917 V. Woolf Diary (1979) I. 78 After tea I had perhaps an hour over a log fire with Ottoline. 2002 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 8 Nov. e29/3 How amazingly capable some—perhaps all—human beings are of living very secret lives right out in the open. 2. In a conditional clause (with if, unless, lest, etc.): as may happen or be the case; as is possible; by any chance. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [adverb] > by any chance peradventurec1325 percase1402 perchancea1425 perhapsc1520 anauntrins1676 by any chance1914 c1520 tr. Terence Andria i. v, in Terens in Eng. sig. B.i But herist not one word beware thow tell Nothing of the weddingys lest perhappis therby Her sorow shold increace. 1582 Bible (Rheims) Acts viii. 22 Pray to God, if perhaps this cogitation of thy hart may be remitted thee. 1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. vi. 281 Not one drop of water is to be found, vnlesse perhaps some raine falleth. 1672 T. Marshall Let. 19 Jan. in H. Hart Notes Cent. Typogr. Oxf. (1900) 166/2 Y^e Founders..have no regard to cutting and justifying, unless perhaps to supply a Defect, or two. 1783 S. Johnson Let. 31 Dec. (1994) IV. 266 I never saw her, unless perhaps, without knowing her, at a conversation. 1853 C. Kingsley Hypatia II. ix. 218 There they would repent, and pray, and mourn out life side by side, if perhaps God would have mercy upon their souls. 1891 Catholic World Dec. 346 Not one domestic animal has been discovered, unless perhaps some doubtful traces of canis familiaris. 1946 J. Hersey Father Walter P. Morse in Life Sketches (1991) 123 He underwent, he says, no emotional crisis that led him to take monastic orders, unless, perhaps, it was the separation from his mother. 1995 T. Parks Ital. Educ. 243 I have never in my life caught a fish, unless perhaps it was minnows and tiddlers in a net as a child. B. n. 1. An instance of ‘perhaps’ used to qualify a statement; an expression of possibility combined with uncertainty, suspicion, or doubt; a doubtful statement. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [noun] > a possible thing or circumstance possibilityc1460 perhapsa1535 potential1587 potentiality1587 maybe1598 contingencya1626 contingent1655 conceivable1659 possiblea1674 conceptiblea1676 cogitable1678 chance1778 it's an idea1841 may1849 might1850 thought1857 possibly1881 shot1923 the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [noun] > expression of possibility perchance?1570 perhapsa1680 may1897 a1535 T. More Dialoge of Comfort (1553) iii. xxiv. sig. U.i^v All his forgeuenes goeth Cosin you se wel but by perhappes. a1680 S. Charnock Wks. (1684) I. Suppl. 60 Little comfort can be suckt from a perhaps. 1707 E. Ward London Terræ-filius No. 3. 26 Ridiculous Conjecture, stuff'd..full of Maybe's, perhapse's, Rank Falsities, and Bifarious meanings. 1790 W. Cowper Let. 3 Jan. (1982) III. 325 I always feel in my heart a perhaps importing that we have possibly met for the last time. 1842 Times 18 Apr. 4/2 The ‘ifs’ and ‘perhapses’ with which unproven accusation are ushered into the world. 1866 J. Ruskin Ethics of Dust iv. 60 We can make ourselves uncomfortable to any extent with perhapses. 1976 P. Henissart Winter Quarry xx. 194 Perhaps you're telling the truth; it's a big perhaps. 2002 Church Times 6 Sept. 18/5 There are a lot of perhapses, but this is a book to make readers think. 2. Something that may or may not happen, exist, or be the case; a possibility. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [noun] > quality of possibility1638 perhapsa1643 a1643 J. Shute Sarah & Hagar (1649) 38 Often have we known those that have cast themselves upon this perhaps, to have been taken away suddenly. 1771 H. Mackenzie Man of Feeling xxviii. 108 ‘What a wretch I am’, said he; ‘ere this time perhaps—’ 'Twas a perhaps not to be borne. 1843 T. Carlyle Past & Present iii. i. 185 We quietly believe this Universe to be intrinsically a great unintelligible Perhaps. 1927 T. Wilder Bridge San Luis Rey 37 A belief in the great Perhaps. 1949 D. L. Sayers tr. Dante Comedy I. viii. 110 Horrid perhapses throng my doubtful mind. 2003 St. John's Telgram (Newfoundland) (Nexis) 9 Apr. a13 I came up with all kinds of perhapses in an effort to avoid the inevitable face-to-face encounter with the truth. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < v.1783adv.n.c1520
随便看	to act the goat to act the lord of the manor to act the mouldwarp to act the old soldier to act the old soldier over a person to act the part to act the part of to act up to act upon the offensive to act, to keep , the volant to act, to keep upon, the volant to add a stone to any one's cairn to add an edge to to add faith to to add fuel to the fire to add fuel to the flames to add in to add insult to injury to add lustre to to add oil to fire to add oil to flame to add oil to the fire to add oil to the flame to add on to add one's name to the score-sheet

perhapsv.

perhapsadv.n.