|
Serendipity (noun) ; a natural gift for
making useful discoveries quite by accident.
The word has its roots in "The
Three Princes of Serendip", a Persian story about three
princes who had the knack of discovering things quite by
chance.
"The Three Princes of Serendip" was
published in Europe in 1557 by a Venetian, Michele Tramezzino,
and eventually was translated into other languages. The
British statesman Horace Walpole read the story as a child,
and later coined the word serendipity in a letter dated
January 28, 1754, sent to Horace Mann (envoy to Florence).
Walpole wrote about learning some news quite by chance, and
stated that "this discovery, indeed, is almost of that kind
which I call Serendipity, a very expressive word."
He explained that this name was
part of the title of a "silly fairy tale, called The Three
Princes of Serendip; as their highnesses travelled, they were
always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of
things which they were not in quest of..."
In 2000, serendipity was voted Britain’s favourite
word. |
