1
Stage 1 of 4
Simhaladvipa
Sanskrit · ancient
"an old name for the island of Sri Lanka"
meant 'Dwelling-Place-of-Lions Island', an old name for the island now called Sri Lanka
2
Stage 2 of 4
Sarandib
Arabic · medieval
"Ceylon, Sri Lanka"
Arab traders adopted the Sanskrit place name for the island
3
Stage 3 of 4
Serendip
English · 1708
"an old poetic name for Ceylon"
the old name entered English via Persian tales and travel writing
4
Stage 4 of 4
serendipity
English · 1754
"the faculty of making fortunate, unexpected discoveries"
coined by Horace Walpole from the fairy tale 'The Three Princes of Serendip', whose heroes made lucky discoveries by accident
Drag to pan · scroll to zoom