hap
/hæp/obsolete
hap is spelled H-A-P: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,462nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hap means “Abbreviation of hospital-acquired pneumonia” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hap is haps.
How many letters and syllables are in hap?
| Letters | 3: H-A-P |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.1 times per million words; the 27,462nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is hap?
Hap appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,462nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce hap?
- /hæp/
Hap has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-hap.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with hap?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as hap.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: pah.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of hap
- haps present, singular, he/she/it
- happing participle, present
- happed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hap mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
archaicA person's lot (good or bad), luck, fortune, fate.
- 2
archaicA stroke of good or bad luck, an occurrence or happening, especially an unexpected, random, chance, or fortuitous event.
- 3
archaicslangHappenings; events; goings-on.
- 4
ScotlandUKarchaicA wrap, such as a quilt or a comforter. Also, a small or folded blanket placed on the end of a bed to keep feet warm.
- 5
archaicAny of the cichlid fishes of the tribe Haplochromini.
noun
- 1
Abbreviation of hospital-acquired pneumonia.
- 2
Initialism of hazardous air pollutant.
verb
- 1
archaicTo happen; to befall; to chance.
- 2
archaicTo happen to.
- 3
archaicTo wrap, clothe.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hap in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense luck, fortune, fate:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | heur |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does hap come from?
From Middle English hap, happe (“chance, hap, luck, fortune”), potentially cognate with or from Old English ġehæp (“fit, convenient”) and/or Old Norse happ (“hap, chance, good luck”), from Proto-Germanic *hampą (“convenience, happiness”), from Proto-Indo-European *kob- (“good fortune, prophecy; to bend, bow, fit in, work, succeed”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).