different between serendipity vs karma

English

Etymology

From Serendip (“variant of Serendib: Ceylon, Sri Lanka”) +? -ity. Coined by English writer and politician Horace Walpole in 1754 based on the Persian story of The Three Princes of Serendip, who (Walpole wrote to a friend) were “always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?s?.??n.?d?.p?.ti/, /?s?.??n.?d?.p?.ti/

Noun

serendipity (countable and uncountable, plural serendipities)

1. A combination of events which have come together by chance to make a surprisingly good or wonderful outcome.

   Antonyms: Murphy's law, perfect storm

   • 1754, Horace Walpole, The Letters of Horace Walpole, vol. 2, Letter 90, To Sir Horace Mann, Arlington Street, Jan. 28, 1754. The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Letters of Horace Walpole, Volume 2

     The most random serendipity brought the two of us together, and now, we are happily married! If I was just 15 seconds slower, I'd have never met her!

     This discovery, indeed, is almost of that kind which I call Serendipity, a very expressive word, which, as I have nothing better to tell you, I shall endeavour to explain to you: you will understand it better by the derivation than by the definition. I once read 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: for instance, one of them discovered that a mule blind of the right eye had travelled the same road lately, because the grass was eaten only on the left side, where it was worse than on the right – now do you understand Serendipity? One of the most remarkable instances of this accidental Sagacity, (for you must observe that no discovery of a thing you are looking for comes under this description,) was of my Lord Shaftsbury, who, happening to dine at Lord Chancellor Clarendon's, found out the marriage of the Duke of York and Mrs. Hyde, by the respect with which her mother treated her at table.
2. An unsought, unintended, and/or unexpected, but fortunate, discovery and/or learning experience that happens by accident.

   Synonyms: chance, luck; see also Thesaurus:luck

   • 2007, Erin McKean, speech at TED

     Serendipity is when you find things you weren't looking for because finding what you are looking for is so damn difficult.

Usage notes

Serendipity is sometimes used loosely as a synonym for luck; more careful usage, particularly in science, emphasizes specifically "finding something when looking for something else, thanks to an observant mind".

The term was virtually unknown until the 1870s, and gained currency in the early 20th century. It became popularized at mid-century, and is now widely used.

Derived terms

• serendipitous
• serendipitously

Translations

References

• Goodman, Leo A. Notes on the Etymology of Serendipity and Some Related Philological Observations, Modern Language Notes, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Vol. 76, No. 5 (May, 1961), pp. 454–457. (JSTOR)
• Merton, Robert K.; Barber, Elinor G. The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity: A Study in Historical Semantics and the Sociology of Science, Princeton University Press, December 2003, ?ISBN
• Remer, Theodore G., ed. Serendipity and the Three Princes, from the Peregrinaggio of 1557, University of Oklahoma Press, 1965. LCC 65-10112

Further reading

• serendipity on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit ?????? (kárman, “act, action, performance”), first attested in English in 1827.

Pronunciation

• enPR: kär?-m?, IPA^(key): /?k??m?/
  • (UK) IPA^(key): [?k??.m?]
  • (US) IPA^(key): [?k??.m?]
  • (Indian English) IPA^(key): [?k??m(?)]
• Rhymes: -??(?)m?
• Hyphenation: kar?ma
• Homophone: cama (in non-rhotic accents)

Noun

karma (countable and uncountable, plural karmas)

1. (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) The sum total of a person's actions, which determine the person's next incarnation in samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth.
2. A force or law of nature which causes one to reap what one sows; destiny; fate.
3. (uncommon) A distinctive feeling, aura, or atmosphere.
   • 2001, Inside the Hits, page 307:

     That means everything from lighting to the vibes, the karma of the room.

   • 2006, Chase Sargent, From Buddy to Boss, page 219:

     How many times when you have been in a bar have you felt that a confrontation was building up, even without extensive verbal exchanges? Sometimes you can feel the karma or energy of a place change, and you should not ignore that

   • 2010, R.L. Roach, Irish Lie, page 135:

     On the way to Lancaster, which was about an hour and a half from Philly, John felt the karma.

4. (Internet, Reddit) A score assigned to a user of a discussion forum, indicating the popularity of their posts with other users.

Derived terms

• duskarma
• karmic
• instant karma

Translations

References

• karma at OneLook Dictionary Search
• karma in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• karma in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Karam, Makar, krama, makar

Dutch

Etymology

From Sanskrit ?????? (kárman, “act, action, performance”).(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “via English?”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?r.m?/
• Hyphenation: kar?ma
• Rhymes: -?rm?

Noun

karma n (uncountable)

1. karma

Derived terms

• karmisch

Esperanto

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit ?????? (kárman, “act, action, performance”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?karma/
• Hyphenation: kar?ma

Adjective

karma (accusative singular karman, plural karmaj, accusative plural karmajn)

1. karmic

Related terms

• karmo (“karma”)

Finnish

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit ?????? (kárman, “act, action, performance”). Appears as headword on p. 341 of the Pieni Tietosanakirja ("Little Encyclopedia") [1] from 1925-28, published by Otava, Helsinki.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?rm?/, [?k?rm?]
• Rhymes: -?rm?
• Syllabification: kar?ma

Noun

karma

1. karma

Declension

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?k?rm?]
• Hyphenation: kar?ma
• Rhymes: -m?

Etymology 1

karom (“claw”) +? -a (possessive suffix)

Noun

karma

1. third-person singular single-possession possessive of karom

Declension

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Sanskrit ?????? (kárman, “act, action, performance”).

Noun

karma

1. karma

Declension

Derived terms

• karmikus

References

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?arma/
• Rhymes: -arma

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Sanskrit ?????? (kárman, “act, action, performance”).

Noun

karma n (genitive singular karma, no plural)

1. karma

Declension

Etymology 2

Noun

karma

1. indefinite accusative plural of karmur
2. indefinite genitive plural of karmur

Indonesian

Etymology

From Sanskrit ???? (karma), ?????? (karman), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *kárma, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *kárma, from Proto-Indo-European *k?er- (“to do, make”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /karma/
• Hyphenation: kar?ma

Noun

karma

1. karma,
   1. (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) The sum total of a person's actions, which determine the person's next incarnation in samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth.
   2. A force or law of nature which causes one to reap what one sows; destiny; fate.

Related terms

Further reading

• “karma” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) Daring, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, 2016.

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit ?????? (karman, “act, action, performance”), from the root ?? (k?, “to do, make”), from the Proto-Indo-European root *k?er- (“to do, make, build”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kar.ma/
• Rhymes: -arma
• Hyphenation: kàr?ma

Noun

karma m (invariable)

1. karma

Derived terms

• karmico

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kar.ma/

Etymology 1

Noun

karma f

1. fodder

Usage notes

The term karma is used for pets, whereas pasza is used for other domesticated animals such as livestock or poultry.

Declension

Synonyms

• pasza

Related terms

• karmi?
• pokarm

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Sanskrit ?????? (kárman, “act, action, performance”).

Noun

karma f

1. karma

Declension

Synonyms

• karman

Further reading

• karma in Wielki s?ownik j?zyka polskiego, Instytut J?zyka Polskiego PAN
• karma in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Noun

karma m (plural karmas)

1. Alternative spelling of carma

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kârma/
• Hyphenation: kar?ma

Noun

k?rma m (Cyrillic spelling ??????)

1. karma

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit ?????? (kárman, “act, action, performance”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ka?ma/, [?ka?.ma]

Noun

karma m (plural karmas)

1. karma

Related terms

• kármico

Further reading

• “karma” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

Turkish

Etymology 1

From Turkish kar- (“to mix”) + -ma.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka??ma/

Noun

karma (definite accusative karmay?, plural karmalar)

1. mixing

Declension

Adjective

karma (comparative daha karma, superlative en karma)

1. mixed

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ka?.ma/

Verb

karma

1. second-person singular negative imperative of karmak

Etymology 3

Probably from English karma, ultimately from Sanskrit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ka?.ma/

Noun

karma (definite accusative karmay?, plural karmalar)

1. karma

Declension