verb transitive, verb intransitiveWord forms: beˈchanced or beˈchancing
Archaic
to happen (to); befall
bechance in American English
(bɪˈtʃæns, -ˈtʃɑːns)
intransitive verb or transitive verbWord forms: -chanced, -chancing
archaic
to befall
Word origin
[1520–30; from phrase by chance]This word is first recorded in the period 1520–30. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: bias, junior, lapse, monkey, stagger