▪ I. happening, vbl. n.
(ˈhæp(ə)nɪŋ)
[-ing1.]
1. The action of the vb. happen; occurrence.
| 1551 T. Wilson Logike (1580) 13 By accidentall happenyng. 1601 Cornwallyes Disc. Seneca (1631) 8 The every daies hapning of such things. 1885 Law Times Rep. LII. 684/1 Waiting for the happening of any future event. |
2. (with pl.) An event, occurrence; a chance.
| 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 169 No place is left to the happenynges of fortune. 1628 Gaule Pract. The. (1629) 107 The many and strange alterings and happenings to Men. 1748 Hartley Observ. Man i. iii. 338 The Happenings must bear nearly the same Ratio to the Failures. 1895 H. P. Robinson Men born equal 101 The happenings of the next day or the next month. 1896 S. R. Crockett Grey Man xxviii, I could not find it in my heart to tell him of the happening. 1896 Black & White 27 June 824/2 Before the final coorious happening, there was a fire in a croft of auld Applebird's. 1899 Daily News 5 Apr. 2/4 Such a happening would almost certainly have had much more serious results had it been a horsed carriage. 1907 Westm. Gaz. 30 Dec. 2/2 The Denshawi incident is not viewed by all exactly alike, but it was decidedly a regrettable happening. 1921 E. E. Cummings Let. 22 Apr. (1969) 75 The feria is..a double happening. There were the grounds..and there were the torros. |
3. a. An improvised or spontaneous theatrical or pseudo-theatrical entertainment. Also in extended use, any spontaneous or ‘vital’ display. orig. U.S.
| 1959 Nation (N.Y.) 24 Oct. 260/2 The first exhibition is not of painting but is an ‘event’ consisting of eighteen ‘happenings’ by Allan Kaprow. 1962 Listener 5 Apr. 604/1 It was with their series of ‘happenings’ that these artists first reached the public. Happenings, usually staged in downtown lofts, were performances, improvised round basic ideas that left a good deal to chance and action on the night. Actors and décor mingled intimately with the audience. 1963 Guardian 13 Mar. 8/7 The latest form of ‘way out’ entertainment in Washington, DC, is a Happening..a goofy party. 1963 Observer 15 Sept. 27/6 The last day..gave us our notorious nude, who was towed across the musicians’ gallery as part of a rehearsed ‘Happening’. 1966 Ibid. 17 Apr. 11/4 Here are the long⁓term..effects of having the television cameras in the House... Politics comes to be regarded as a series of dramatic scenes. A Budget or a Bill is seen..as a happening. 1969 Listener 13 Mar. 339/2 The Japanese city is not a design that has been done badly: it's the negation of design, an urban happening with its own special vitality. 1970 Daily Tel. 29 Dec. 10 Tomorrow the 1,600 delegates will see a ‘happening’ called ‘Thank God We're Normal’ performed by 70 boys and girls from..comprehensive schools in London. |
b. Art. (See quot. 1962.)
| 1962 Listener 5 Apr. 604/2 The room-sized collages called happenings or situations are works of art that actually simulate the environment. Ibid. 605/1 In his happenings, he [sc. Dine] used cheap materials and found objects, lifted from the city's waste. 1965 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Nov. 1044/2 Happenings may be seen as the logical extension of the collage principle. |
▪ II. happening, ppl. a.
[f. happen v. + -ing2.]
1. That happens; occurring; chancing.
| 1530 Palsgr. 229/1 Happenyng, aduenant. 1551 T. Wilson Logike (1580) 42 b, An Ague maie be the happenyng cause. 1593 Queen Elizabeth tr. Boethius (E.E.T.S.) 91 Of the succession of Chaunce, of hapning Luckes. |
2. Casual, chance, occasional. Sc.
| a 1605 Polwart Flyting w. Montgomerie 560 Hapning haires blawin withersuns aback. Mod. Sc. I have been there at a happening time. You may still find a happening apple on the tree. |
Add: 3. Characterized by the most exciting, lively, and up-to-the-minute action or style; currently in vogue, fashionable, trendy. Cf. happen v. 6, happening vbl. n. 3. slang (orig. U.S.).
| 1977 C. McFadden Serial li. 109 Who could live anywhere else? Marin's this whole high-energy trip with all these happening people. 1987 Sunday Express Mag. 1 Feb. 13/3 ‘Me and George Michael’, she adds, lapsing into pop-speak, ‘may turn out to be a pretty happening scene.’ 1988 Now (Toronto) 14 Apr. 47/1 Unrenovated houses..recall the outskirts of Cheyenne, Wyoming, rather than nearby ‘happening’ Queen West. 1990 Radio Times 6 Oct. 94/1 My kind of day is a Saturday when we've had a totally happenin' week on Children's BBC. |