FATE

destiny, fate

(noun) an event (or a course of events) that will inevitably happen in the future

destiny, fate

(noun) the ultimate agency regarded as predetermining the course of events (often personified as a woman); “we are helpless in the face of destiny”

fortune, destiny, fate, luck, lot, circumstances, portion

(noun) your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you); “whatever my fortune may be”; “deserved a better fate”; “has a happy lot”; “the luck of the Irish”; “a victim of circumstances”; “success that was her portion”

destine, fate, doom, designate

(verb) decree or designate beforehand; “She was destined to become a great pianist”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

fate (countable and uncountable, plural fates)

The presumed cause, force, principle, or divine will that predetermines events.

The effect, consequence, outcome, or inevitable events predetermined by this cause.

Destiny; often with a connotation of death, ruin, misfortune, etc.

(mythology) Alternative letter-case form of Fate (one of the goddesses said to control the destiny of human beings).

Synonyms

• destiny

• doom

• fortune

• kismet

• lot

• necessity

• orlay

• predestination

• wyrd

Antonyms

• choice

• free will

• freedom

Verb

fate (third-person singular simple present fates, present participle fating, simple past and past participle fated)

(transitive) To foreordain or predetermine, to make inevitable.

Usage notes

• In some uses this may imply it causes the inevitable event.

Anagrams

• EFTA, TAFE, TFAE, feat, feat., feta

Proper noun

Fate

Any one of the Fates.

A personification of fate (the cause that predetermines events).

Anagrams

• EFTA, TAFE, TFAE, feat, feat., feta

Source: Wiktionary


Fate, n. Etym: [L. fatum a prophetic declaration, oracle, what is ordained by the gods, destiny, fate, fr. fari to speak: cf. OF. fat. See Fame, Fable, Ban, and cf. 1st Fay, Fairy.]

1. A fixed decree by which the order of things is prescribed; the immutable law of the universe; inevitable necessity; the force by which all existence is determined and conditioned. Necessity and chance Approach not me; and what I will is fate. Milton. Beyond and above the Olympian gods lay the silent, brooding, everlasting fate of which victim and tyrant were alike the instruments. Froude.

2. Appointed lot; allotted life; arranged or predetermined event; destiny; especially, the final lot; doom; ruin; death. The great, th'important day, big with the fate Of Cato and of Rome. Addison. Our wills and fates do so contrary run That our devices still are overthrown. Shak. The whizzing arrow sings, And bears thy fate, Antinous, on its wings. Pope.

3. The element of chance in the affairs of life; the unforeseen and unestimated conitions considered as a force shaping events; fortune; esp., opposing circumstances against which it is useless to struggle; as, fate was, or the fates were, against him. A brave man struggling in the storms of fate. Pope. Sometimes an hour of Fate's serenest weather strikes through our changeful sky its coming beams. B. Taylor.

4. pl. Etym: [L. Fata, pl. of fatum.] (Myth.)

Definition: The three goddesses, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, sometimes called the Destinies, or Parcæwho were supposed to determine the course of human life. They are represented, one as holding the distaff, a second as spinning, and the third as cutting off the thread.

Note: Among all nations it has been common to speak of fate or destiny as a power superior to gods and men -- swaying all things irresistibly. This may be called the fate of poets and mythologists. Philosophical fate is the sum of the laws of the universe, the product of eternal intelligence and the blind properties of matter. Theological fate represents Deity as above the laws of nature, and ordaining all things according to his will -- the expression of that will being the law. Krauth-Fleming.

Syn.

– Destiny; lot; doom; fortune; chance.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

19 April 2024

SUSPECT

(verb) hold in suspicion; believe to be guilty; “The U.S. suspected Bin Laden as the mastermind behind the terrorist attacks”


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Coffee Trivia

Contrary to popular belief, coffee beans are not technically beans. They are referred to as such because of their resemblance to legumes. A coffee bean is a seed of the Coffea plant and the source for coffee. It is the pit inside the red or purple fruit, often referred to as a cherry. Just like ordinary cherries, the coffee fruit is also a so-called stone fruit.

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