Coincidence

How to spell coincidence

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce coincidence

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does coincidence mean?

1. nounA remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances that happen at the same time without any apparent connection.

Coincidence in a sentence

• By sheer coincidence, both managers booked the same flight to the conference.

• The matching account numbers were no coincidence; someone had copied the file deliberately.

Where does coincidence come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb coincidere, formed from co- meaning 'together', in- meaning 'upon', and cadere meaning 'to fall'; quite literally it described two things 'falling upon' the same point. From that came the Medieval Latin noun coincidentia, used in geometry and astronomy for lines or bodies that occupy the same position. English took the word in the 1600s, at first in this technical sense of exact correspondence in space or time, before it broadened to the everyday meaning of a striking concurrence of events with no obvious connection. The Latin root cadere is the same one hiding inside 'accident', 'incident', and 'cascade', all sharing that idea of falling. Knowing the parts (two events that fall together) helps explain the run of two i sounds in the middle and the soft c that makes spellers hesitate.

How the word is built

• co- (together)
• in- (upon)
• cid (from Latin cadere: to fall)
• -ence (noun suffix)