Obventions

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A series of occurrences or events that come to pass in a specific situation
2. Instances of things happening without prior planning or intention in a given context
3. Unpredictable occurrences that arise unexpectedly in various circumstances

Etymology: "Obventions" is the plural of "obvention," a word that English borrowed from Latin "obventio," itself built from "obvenire," meaning "to come before or in the way of, to befall." That verb combines "ob," meaning "toward" or "against," with "venire," "to come," so the underlying picture is of something arriving in one's path. The same image sits behind the familiar "event," which also grows from "venire." The Latin sense of arriving or befalling survives in the modern meaning of occurrences that come to pass in a particular situation. The word is an uncommon one, and it shows the Latin verb's core idea of things coming to meet a person rather than things being planned or sought.