Origin of "Serendipitous"

[EclecticPoet]

Okay... I've searched the Internet, and I have been unable to find the answer. I've been told that Cecil is the smartest person on the planet, and I'm assuming those that post on his message board (the teeming millions) are a caliber higher than most. :-)

My question is: Who coined the term "serendipitous"? If I vaguely remember, it was by an American author sometime during the 1940's. The closest I've come to getting an answer is via Merriam-Webster's site, which states it originated in 1943, but not by whom.

Just to clarify, I'm not looking for the origin of "serendipity", for which there is ample information (If you're curious, it was derived from a fable about the 3 Princes of Serendip... Look it up!)

Thanks everyone! Appreciate any help.

[JeffB]

From the OED:

Serendip, a former name for Sri Lanka + -ITY.

A word coined by Horace Walpole, who says (Let. to Mann, 28 Jan. 1754) that he had formed it upon the title of the fairy-tale ‘The Three Princes of Serendip’, the heroes of which ‘were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of’.

[EclecticPoet]

Originally posted by JeffB
From the OED:

No... that's for "serendipity". I'm looking for the origin of "serendipitous".

[JeffB]

Oops! I guess it helps to actually read the OP before trying to answer.

Anyway, the OED's first cite for "serendipitous" is:

1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 22 Aug. 468/4 In the matter of adventure Miss de Banke was serendipitous to the nth degree.

Which is much later than M-W gives. I haven't been able to find any earlier cite yet. I did find serendipitist, though, which James Joyce used in 1939.

[EclecticPoet]

Originally posted by JeffB
Oops! I guess it helps to actually read the OP before trying to answer.

Anyway, the OED's first cite for "serendipitous" is:

Which is much later than M-W gives. I haven't been able to find any earlier cite yet. I did find serendipitist, though, which James Joyce used in 1939.

Ok... I think it's starting to become clearer to me (curse time and it's effect on my fragile memory... ;-)

Joyce and serendipitist was the reference I was thinking about. Thanks Jeff!

[samclem]

Hold on, EclecticPoet ! You can't bring up a fact(Webster's cites 1943 for serendipitous] and then say that you are satisfied that Joyce said *serendipitist* and that is your memory. Well and good about your memory.

Where did Webster get the cite in 1943? And, supposedly, for a different word.

[JeffB]

Originally posted by samclem
Where did Webster get the cite in 1943?

Unfortunately, the on-line version of Mirriam-Webster doesn't give an actual cite; it just says, "Date: 1943." Maybe the printed version give the cite. The on-line OED gives the 1958 cite. And the on-line Websters Unabridged doesn't give any cite or date.

[EclecticPoet]

Originally posted by JeffB

Unfortunately, the on-line version of Mirriam-Webster doesn't give an actual cite; it just says, "Date: 1943." Maybe the printed version give the cite. The on-line OED gives the 1958 cite. And the on-line Websters Unabridged doesn't give any cite or date.

Sorry samclem... I never had much luck finding the origin of "serendipitous". The World Wide Words site adds a little more information:

This word has been around for more than two centuries, but only really began to be used much in the twentieth century, to the extent that the adjective serendipitous is not recorded before the 1950s.

Here's the URL: http://www.quinion.com/words/weirdwords/ww-ser1.htm

[Triskadecamus]

The print version of the OED lists the same cites given above. No earlier usage recorded.

[dtilque]

When Merriam-Webster generated the dates for the words, they had some interns go through their massive citation files and find the earliest cite there. Then they compared that date with the first one in the OED. Whichever was earliest went into the dictionary. So to find the 1943 cite, go visit M-W's offices in Springfield MA and ask if you can browse their files. Who knows, maybe they will let you.

Or you could try emailing them and ask if they can do it for you.