Plural of 'hap,' referring to instances of luck, chance occurrences, or random events.
From Old Norse 'happ' meaning chance or fortune, which entered Middle English and became 'hap.' The plural form 'haps' refers to multiple instances of fortunate or chance events.
In medieval and early modern literature, people talked about 'haps' and 'mishaps' to make sense of tragic events before they understood cause and effect—it was their way of saying 'stuff just happens to us.'
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