happenstance

"happenstance"という単語をご存知でしょうか？

私は初めて見たのですが、スペルから想像がつくようにhappen-は"happening"から来ています。

後半の-stanceはと言うと、こちらは"circumstance"から来ており、つまりは"happening"と"circumstance"をつなげた「かばん語」ということになります。

The son of a prominent South Carolina attorney found murdered on his family’s property may have been the intended target of the shooting, which also left his mother dead, according to a local report.

（中略）

Investigators have theorized that the killer or killers were gunning for him, and his mother was killed by happenstance, according to the Packet.

(Son of prominent South Carolina legal family found murdered with mom may have been target. Fox News. June 13, 2021.)

つまり、記事中の"by happenstance"とは、偶然に、とか、思いもかけないハプニングによって、という意味合いです。

同じような意味合いの単語で、"happenchance"というものもあります。