fate

1 of 2

noun

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
fate sometimes deals a straight flush … he had no idea that he would become the right man in the right place at the right time …June Goodfield
2
a
: an inevitable and often adverse outcome, condition, or end
Her fate was to remain in exile.
b
: disaster
especially : death
The villain met his fate at the hands of the hero.
3
a
: final outcome
Congress decided the bill's fate by a single vote.
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
Fates plural : the three goddesses, Atropos, Clotho, and Lachesis, who determine the course of human life in classical mythology

fate

2 of 2

verb

fated; fating
Choose the Right Synonym for 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

Examples of fate in a Sentence

Noun … the fate of 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
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
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
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
They thought they would never see each other again, but fate brought them back together. a surprising turn of fate One company went bankrupt, and a similar fate befell the other. Her fate was sealed by the marriage arrangement made in her youth. Verb Given what was going on when the magazine was started, Utne Reader seems fated to have happened—it was simply an idea that fit the times. Eric Utne, Utne Reader, March/April 1994
It was during this interregnum between the acquisition of regional power and the actual use of it that Henderson was fated to enter the picture. Robert D. Kaplan, The Arabists, 1993
Who are my viewing companions at this hour? Dazed and confused, we are isolated in sunken couches, empty beds and cheap hotel rooms across this crumbling nation, one through MTV but fated never to meet. Hugh Gallagher, Rolling Stone, 29 Apr. 1993
the warning that the lack of an advanced education will fate a person to a lifetime of below-average earnings See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The latest developments come amid a dizzying several days for OpenAI that has put the future of the firm in doubt, a drastic change of fate for a company that until just days ago was considered one of the most promising start-ups in Silicon Valley. Rachel Lerman, Washington Post, 21 Nov. 2023 But its major bet on generative artificial intelligence has deeply intertwined its fate with that of a seven-year-old Silicon Valley startup with a volatile management structure. Wsj Staff, WSJ, 21 Nov. 2023 The structure that enabled a small number of people without ties to the company to decide Altman’s fate, originally intended to keep OpenAI’s technology beneficial to humanity, has come under new scrutiny. WIRED, 20 Nov. 2023 Thus, a child's IQ scores, which rank cognitive abilities such as reasoning, began to play an outsize role in determining countless students' educational fates. Sarah Carr, Scientific American, 16 Nov. 2023 His killer was never caught, and the motive seemed to lie in some macabre interplay of politics and passion—the sort of fate that, in the American imagination, could only befall a foreigner. Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 15 Nov. 2023 Greta Lee and Teo Yoo play the pair, who navigate their complex emotions for each other in this touching film about cultural identity and fate. Tyler Coates, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Nov. 2023 Thursday previews don’t necessarily determine a movie’s fate, but The Marvels is off to do a worrisome start. Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Nov. 2023 When a physicist considers the fate of this falling cockroach, their first step is to change the problem into something simpler. WIRED, 10 Nov. 2023
Verb
And inspiring the tales that followed the Beowulf text, the warrior who faced the dragon was fated for tragedy, slaying the beast but being mortally injured in the battle. Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 30 Oct. 2023 Born and raised in Triton, perhaps it was fated that Whalen now a thing or two. Jennifer Billock, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 Oct. 2023 Still, Tanya Chutkan did not seem fated to take the world by storm. Robert Draper, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2023 When every character is fated, in turn, to meet their end, the lead-up loses its drama; every death occurs at the end of a long, rote recitation of incidents rather than as the culmination of a chaotic or unsettling turn of events. Phillip MacIak, The New Republic, 11 Oct. 2023 Named after a Peruvian revolutionary and born to a Black Panther, Shakur was almost fated to reject authority and speak for the disenfranchised. Spin Staff, Spin, 29 Sep. 2023 Perhaps this collaboration has been fated for the past 20 years and was well worth the wait. Cait Bazemore, Robb Report, 7 Sep. 2023 That was there too, but at its heart was a yearning for everything that the novel usually leaves out and that, in darker moments, seemed fated for destruction. Hazlitt, 26 July 2023 His Project Cassandra honored the Trojan priestess fated to utter true prophecies but never to be believed, as part of Kelly's efforts to raise alarms about the convergence of drug trafficking and terrorism. Josh Meyer, USA TODAY, 17 July 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

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 entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1601, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of fate was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near fate

Cite this Entry

“Fate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fate. Accessed 1 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

fate

1 of 2 noun
1
: a power beyond one's control that is believed to decide what happens
2
: something that happens as though decided by fate
3
: a final result
4
plural capitalized : the three goddesses in classical mythology who decide the course of human life

fate

2 of 2 verb
fated; fating

Medical Definition

fate

noun
: the expected result of normal development
prospective fate of embryonic cells

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