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   Word of the Day for Thursday October 18, 2001:

   serendipity \sehr-uhn-DIP-uh-tee\, noun:
   The  faculty  or  phenomenon  of  making  fortunate accidental
   discoveries.

     Still,  I  was more subject to serendipity than I yet knew.
     Soon  risk, chance, and a letter from Sir Alun Reese-Jones,
     the Master of Trinity, my college at Cambridge, were to set
     my life on an adventurous course.
     --David Freeman, One of Us

     Yet even as I planned a rough route, leaving plenty of room
     for  serendipity,  I  was uncomfortably aware that journeys
     have a way of creating their own momentum.
     --Lesley  Hazleton,  [1]Driving  To  Detroit: An Automotive
     Odyssey

     There   again,   perhaps  because  of  serendipity,  or  an
     especially  conscientious  team  of  doctors,  it  can also
     happen  that the crucial clues are noticed and recorded for
     posterity.
     --Edward  Hooper,  [2]The River: A Journey to the Source of
     HIV and AIDS
     _________________________________________________________

   The  word  serendipity  was  formed  by  English author Horace
   Walpole (1717-1797) from Serendip (also Serendib), an old name
   for  Sri  Lanka,  in  reference  to  a Persian tale, The Three
   Princes   of   Serendip,   whose   heroes  "discovered,  quite
   unexpectedly, great and wonderful good in the most unlikely of
   situations, places and people."

   Serendipitous    describes   that   which   is   obtained   or
   characterized by serendipity.

References

   1. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684839873/lexico
   2. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316372617/lexico


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