# perhaps

Pronunciation: US say "pur-HAPS" /pɚˈhæps/; UK say "puh-HAPS" /pəˈhæps/

## Adverb

1. Used to indicate that something is possible but not certain.
   - Simple: Used to show that something may be true or may happen, but you are not sure.
   - _Perhaps the meeting will be moved to next week._
   - _The delay was caused, perhaps, by a shortage of parts._

## Noun

2. A matter that remains uncertain or undecided.
   - Simple: Something that is uncertain or has not been decided.
   - _He answered with a vague perhaps that settled nothing._
   - _Their proposal was a string of perhapses with no firm commitments._

## Adverb

3. As chance may have it, or as things happen to turn out; by any chance. *(dated)*
   - Simple: As it may happen by chance, if things turn out that way.

## Origin

Its parts are 'per' + 'hap' (chance, coincidence) + '-s', put together on the pattern of Middle English 'parchaunce' (modern 'perchance'). The Middle English form 'perhappes' began as a variant of the earlier 'perhap' (perhaps, possibly).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/perhaps (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).