fate

¹fate

noun \ˈfāt\

Definition of FATE

1

: the will or principle or determining cause by which things in general are believed to come to be as they are or events to happen as they do : destiny

2

a : an inevitable and often adverse outcome, condition, or end b : disaster; especially : death

3

a : final outcome b : the expected result of normal development <prospective fate of embryonic cells> c : the circumstances that befall someone or something <did not know the fate of her former classmates>

4

plural capitalized : the three goddesses who determine the course of human life in classical mythology

Examples of FATE

1. They thought they would never see each other again, but fate brought them back together.
2. a surprising turn of fate
3. One company went bankrupt, and a similar fate befell the other.
4. Her fate was sealed by the marriage arrangement made in her youth.
5. … the —fateof our species is bound up with those of countless others, with which we share a habitat that we cannot long dominate … —John Gray, Times Literary Supplement, 11 Sept. 1992
6. So what went wrong? I ask Syd again, glancing ahead to the inevitable end. What quirk of fate, this time round, Syd, checked the great man's stride? —John le Carré, A Perfect Spy, 1986
7. Often there is a specified character on whom a work hinges and whose fate we follow, a Raskolnikov or a Hamlet … —Robert Penn Warren, Democracy and Poetry, 1975
8. The money goes down one-two-three on the table, fives and tens and twenties, and the wheel begins to spin. Round and round she goes, where she stops nobody knows. It's up to fate. Kismet, as they say. —Mordecai Richler, The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz, 1959

Origin of FATE

Middle English, from Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin fatum, literally, what has been spoken, from neuter of fatus, past participle of fari to speak — more at ban

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to FATE

Synonyms: circumstance, destiny, doom, fortune, kismet, lot, portion

Antonyms: antecedent, causation, cause, occasion, reason

Related Words: accident, casualty [archaic], chance, hap, happenchance, happenstance, hazard, luck; predestination; aftereffect, aftermath, conclusion, consequence, development, effect, fruit, issue, outcome, outgrowth, result, resultant, sequel, sequence, upshot

Near Antonyms: consideration, determinant, factor; base, basis, foundation, ground, groundwork; impetus, incentive, inspiration, instigation, stimulus; mother, origin, root, source, spring

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Synonym Discussion of FATE

fate, destiny, lot, portion, doom mean a predetermined state or end. fate implies an inevitable and usually an adverse outcome <the fate of the submarine is unknown>. destiny implies something foreordained and often suggests a great or noble course or end <the country's destiny to be a model of liberty to the world>. lot and portion imply a distribution by fate or destiny, lot suggesting blind chance <it was her lot to die childless>, portion implying the apportioning of good and evil <remorse was his daily portion>. doom distinctly implies a grim or calamitous fate <if the rebellion fails, his doom is certain>.

Rhymes with FATE

ait, bait, bate, blate, cate, crate, date, eight, fete, freight, gait, gate, grate, great, haet, hate, late, mate, pate, plait, plate, prate, quoit, rate, sate, skate, slate, spate, state, straight, strait, teth, trait, wait, weight