Peraventure

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. Archaic word meaning perhaps or possibly, by some chance ; a state of doubt, question or uncertainty about something
2. An old-fashioned adverb for perhaps or by chance ; an archaic noun for doubt, hesitation or uncertainty about a matter
3. Used in older English to mean perchance or possibly ; also used as a noun meaning uncertainty, doubt or a lack of certainty

Etymology: "Peraventure" is an archaic English word meaning "perhaps" or "perchance," and it comes straight from Old French. Its roots are "par" (by, through) and "aventure" (chance, adventure), so the whole word means something like "by chance." The same "aventure" that gave English "adventure" is at work here, which is why the two words share a stem even though one now suggests danger and excitement and the other is a quiet hedge. The word is famous today mostly through the King James Bible, where it appears in phrases such as "peradventure there shall be found there fifty righteous" in Genesis 18. Translators of that era were drawing on a vocabulary that was already old-fashioned, so the word was preserved in scripture long after it faded from everyday speech.

Synonyms: perhaps, perchance, possibly, maybe

Antonyms: certainly, surely