CHANCE (through the O. Fr. cheance, from the

See also:

• LATE

Late

See also:

• LAT

Lat. cadentia, things happening, from cadere, to fall out, happen; cf. "

See also:

• CASE
• CASE, JOHN (d. 1600)

case ")  , an accident or event, a phenomenon which has no apparent or discoverable cause; hence an event which has not been expected, a piece of good or bad fortune . From the popular idea that anything of which no assignable cause is known has therefore no cause, chance (Gr . Tbxn) was regarded as having a substantial objective existence, being itself the source of such uncaused phenomena . For the philosophic theories relating to this subject see ACCIDENTALISM . " Chance," in the theory of probability, is used in two ways . In the stricter, or mathematical usage, it is synonymous with probability; i.e. if a particular event may occur in n ways in an aggregate of p events, then the " chance " of the particular event occurring is given by the fraction n/p . In the second usage, the "chance" is regarded as the ratio of the number of ways which a particular event may occur to the number of ways in which it may not occur; mathematically expressed, this chance is n/(p-n) (see PROBABILITY) . In the English law relating to gaming and wagering a distinction is drawn between games of chance and games of skill (see GAMING AND WAGERING) .