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destiny - 4 dictionary results

des⋅ti⋅ny

  [des-tuh-nee]
Use destiny in a Sentence
–noun, plural -nies.
1. something that is to happen or has happened to a particular person or thing; lot or fortune.
2. the predetermined, usually inevitable or irresistible, course of events.
3. the power or agency that determines the course of events.
4. (initial capital letter) this power personified or represented as a goddess.
5. the Destinies, the Fates.
Origin:
1275–1325; ME destinee < OF (n. use of ptp. of destiner) < L dēstināta, fem. ptp. of dēstināre. See destine, -ee

Synonyms:
1. fate, karma, kismet. 2. future. See fate.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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des·ti·ny   (děs'tə-nē)   
n.   pl. des·ti·nies
  1. The inevitable or necessary fate to which a particular person or thing is destined; one's lot.
  2. A predetermined course of events considered as something beyond human power or control: "Marriage and hanging go by destiny" (Robert Burton).
  3. The power or agency thought to predetermine events: Destiny brought them together.

[Middle English destine, from Old French destinee, from feminine past participle of destiner, to destine, from Latin dēstināre, to determine; see stā- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Destiny

Des"ti*ny\, n.; pl. Destinies. [OE. destinee, destene, F. destin['e]e, from destiner. See Destine.]

1. That to which any person or thing is destined; predetermined state; condition foreordained by the Divine or by human will; fate; lot; doom.

Thither he Will come to know his destiny. --Shak.

No man of woman born, Coward or brave, can shun his destiny. --Bryant.

2. The fixed order of things; invincible necessity; fate; a resistless power or agency conceived of as determining the future, whether in general or of an individual.

But who can turn the stream of destiny? --Spenser.

Fame comes only when deserved, and then is as inevitable as destiny, for it is destiny. --Longfellow.

The Destinies (Anc. Myth.), the three Parc[ae], or Fates; the supposed powers which preside over human life, and determine its circumstances and duration.

Marked by the Destinies to be avoided. --Shak.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : destiny
Spanish: destino, sino,
German: das Schicksal,
Japanese: 運命
More Translations »

destiny 
c.1325, from O.Fr. destinée (12c.), fem. pp. of destiner, from L. destinatus, pp. of destinare "make firm, establish" (see destination). The sense is of "that which has been firmly established," as by fate.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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