perhaps
adverb
- indicating a lack of certainty, maybe
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /pəˈhæps/ / /pəˈɹæps/ / /ˈpɹæps/
adv
Etymology: From Middle English perhappes, perhappous, variant of earlier perhap (“perhaps, possibly”), equivalent to per + hap (“chance, coincidence”) + -s, on model of Middle English parchaunce (modern perchance).
- Possibly.
“Perhaps John will come over for dinner.”
“There was a perhaps credible witness.”
- By chance.
“[…] will live until he dies perhaps, and then lie down in clover.”
noun
Etymology: From Middle English perhappes, perhappous, variant of earlier perhap (“perhaps, possibly”), equivalent to per + hap (“chance, coincidence”) + -s, on model of Middle English parchaunce (modern perchance).
- An uncertainty.
“I cannot conceive what atheism, or skepticism, or positivism could do for me now, with their negations, and endless and contradictory perhapses, and perhapses, and perhapses.”