chance
UK[tʃɑːns]US[tʃæns]
n
The possibility of something happening, especially something good or desirable.
n
An opportunity to do something.
n
The way things happen without being planned or controlled; luck or fortune.
v
To do something in an unplanned way, accepting the risk of failure.
Etymology
The story of 'chance' begins with the Latin verb 'cadere', meaning "to fall". This gave rise to the Vulgar Latin noun 'cadentia', literally "a falling", which was used metaphorically for the falling of dice. This concept passed into Old French as 'cheance', carrying the sense of an accident, fortune, or luck determined by an unpredictable event like a dice roll. When English borrowed the word in the Middle English period, it retained this core idea of an unforeseen occurrence, eventually expanding to encompass the modern meanings of possibility, opportunity, and random luck, all rooted in the ancient metaphor of things falling out in an uncertain way.
Analysis
The word 'chance' is a simplex word. It entered English as a noun from Old French 'cheance', meaning "accident, chance, fortune, luck". The Old French term derived from Vulgar Latin 'cadentia', meaning "a falling", which came from the Latin verb 'cadere', meaning "to fall". The semantic shift from "a falling" (as in the falling of dice) to "luck, fortune" is central to its logic.
Examples
There's a good chance it will rain tomorrow.
I didn't get a chance to speak with her at the meeting.
They chanced upon a quaint little bookstore while wandering the city.