What is the Latin word for perchance?

The usual Latin words for “perchance” are fortāsse, forsitan, nisī̆; also nūllus, nēmō, numquam. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“perchance” in Latin

fortāsseperhaps, possibly, maybe; approximately forsitanperhaps, perchance, maybe nisī̆if not, unless, except nūllusno one, none, not any, nothing nēmōnobody, no one, no man numquamnever, at no time; not at all, by no means diffīdōto distrust, be diffident, be distrustful (coupled with dative of the thing or person subjected); to despair (of)

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

perchance

fortasse; forsitan (the latter always with the subjunctive. ☞ Fortassis is rare; forsan is poetical). ☞ Observe, also, that forte is not to be used for fortasse in all cases; but the rule is that the Latin has always forte, and not fortasse, after si, nisi, ne (not so after num): haud scio an, nescio an (nullus, nemo, numquam), as a modest or diffident form of expression. Vid: also, PERHAPS.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for perchance?: The usual Latin words for “perchance” are fortāsse, forsitan, nisī̆; also nūllus, nēmō, numquam. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.