serendipity

 
Pronunciation: /ˌsɛr(ə)nˈdɪpɪti/

noun

[mass noun]
  • the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way: a fortunate stroke of serendipity [count noun]: a series of small serendipities

Origin:

1754: coined by Horace Walpole, suggested by The Three Princes of Serendip, the title of a fairy tale in which the heroes ‘were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of’