e⋅vent
[i-vent]
| 1. | something that happens or is regarded as happening; an occurrence, esp. one of some importance. |
| 2. | the outcome, issue, or result of anything: The venture had no successful event. |
| 3. | something that occurs in a certain place during a particular interval of time. |
| 4. | Physics. in relativity, an occurrence that is sharply localized at a single point in space and instant of time. Compare world point. |
| 5. | Sports. any of the contests in a program made up of one sport or of a number of sports: The broad jump event followed the pole vault. |
| 6. | in any event, regardless of what happens; in any case. Also, at all events. |
| 7. | in the event of, if there should be: In the event of rain, the party will be held indoors. |
| 8. | in the event that, if it should happen that; in case: In the event that I can't come back by seven, you can eat without me. |
1560–70; < L ēventus occurrence, outcome, equiv. to ēven(īre) to occur, come out + -tus suffix of v. action

Related forms:
1. happening, affair, case, circumstance. Event, episode, incident, occurrence are terms for a happening. An event is usually an important happening: historical events. An episode is one of a series of happenings in a person's life or in a narrative: an episode in one's life. An incident is an event of usually minor importance: an amusing incident in a play. An occurrence is something that happens, often by surprise: His arrival was an unexpected occurrence. 2. consequence.
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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e·vent (ĭ-věnt') n.
[Latin ēventus, from past participle of ēvenīre, to happen : ē-, ex-, ex- + venīre, to come; see gwā- in Indo-European roots.] e·vent'less adj. |
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Event
E*vent"\, n. [L. eventus, fr. evenire to happen, come out; e out + venire to come. See Come.]1. That which comes, arrives, or happens; that which falls out; any incident, good or bad. "The events of his early years." --Macaulay. To watch quietly the course of events. --Jowett (Thucyd. ) There is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked. --Eccl. ix. 2. 2. An affair in hand; business; enterprise. [Obs.] "Leave we him to his events." --Shak. 3. The consequence of anything; the issue; conclusion; result; that in which an action, operation, or series of operations, terminates. Dark doubts between the promise and event. --Young. Syn: Incident; occurrence; adventure; issue; result; termination; consequence; conclusion. Usage: Event, Occurrence, Incident, Circumstance. An event denotes that which arises from a preceding state of things. Hence we speak or watching the event; of tracing the progress of events. An occurrence has no reference to any antecedents, but simply marks that which meets us in our progress through life, as if by chance, or in the course of divine providence. The things which thus meet us, if important, are usually connected with antecedents; and hence event is the leading term. In the "Declaration of Independence" it is said, "When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary." etc. Here, occurrences would be out of place. An incident is that which falls into a state of things to which is does not primarily belong; as, the incidents of a journey. The term is usually applied to things of secondary importance. A circumstance is one of the things surrounding us in our path of life. These may differ greatly in importance; but they are always outsiders, which operate upon us from without, exerting greater or less influence according to their intrinsic importance. A person giving an account of a campaign might dwell on the leading events which it produced; might mention some of its striking occurrences; might allude to some remarkable incidents which attended it; and might give the details of the favorable or adverse circumstances which marked its progress.Event
E*vent"\, v. t. [F. ['e]venter to fan, divulge, LL. eventare to fan, fr., L. e out + ventus wind.] To break forth. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.Cite This Source
event
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Main Entry: event
Function: noun
1 : something that happens : OCCURRENCE
2 : the issue or outcome of a legal action or proceeding as finally determined
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event
1.
See also event-driven.
2. A transaction or other activity that affects the records in a file.
(2000-02-09)
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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event
notion that became of singular importance in the philosophical speculation about relativity physics. The best-known analyses are those of the 20th-century English philosopher Bertrand Russell, for whom event replaced the vaguer notion of body, and the 20th-century English philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, for whom events were formed by a nexus of actual occasions. In general, in both views an event is that which occurs at a given time and place
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