position in life as determined by wealth: to make one's fortune.
2.
wealth or riches: to lose a small fortune in bad investments.
3.
great wealth; ample stock of money, property, and the like: to be worth a fortune.
4.
chance; luck: They each had the bad fortune to marry the wrong person.
5.
fortunes. things that happen or are to happen to a person in his or her life.
6.
fate; lot; destiny: whatever my fortune may be.
7.
(initial capital letter) chance personified, commonly regarded as a mythical being distributing arbitrarily or capriciously the lots of life: Perhaps Fortune will smile on our venture.
8.
good luck; success; prosperity: a family blessed by fortune.
9.
Archaic. a wealthy woman; an heiress.
–verb (used with object)
10.
Archaic. to endow (someone or something) with a fortune.
–verb (used without object)
11.
Archaic. to chance or happen; come by chance.
—Idiom
12.
tell someone's fortune, to profess to inform someone of future events in his or her own life; foretell.
[Origin: 1250–1300; ME < OF < L fortūna chance, luck, fortune, deriv. of fort- (s. of fors) chance]
The chance happening of fortunate or adverse events; luck: He decided to go home for the holidays, and his fortune turned for the worse.
fortunes The turns of luck in the course of one's life.
Success, especially when at least partially resulting from luck: No matter what they tried, it ended in fortune.
A person's condition or standing in life determined by material possessions or financial wealth: She pursued her fortune in another country.
Extensive amounts of material possessions or money; wealth.
A large sum of money: spent a fortune on the new car.
Fate; destiny: told my fortune with tarot cards.
A foretelling of one's destiny.
A person's condition or standing in life determined by material possessions or financial wealth: She pursued her fortune in another country.
Extensive amounts of material possessions or money; wealth.
A large sum of money: spent a fortune on the new car.
Fate; destiny: told my fortune with tarot cards.
A foretelling of one's destiny.
often Fortune A hypothetical, often personified force or power that favorably or unfavorably governs the events of one's life: We believe that Fortune is on our side.
Fate; destiny: told my fortune with tarot cards.
A foretelling of one's destiny.
v.
for·tuned, for·tun·ing, for·tunes
v.
tr.
Archaic To endow with wealth.
Obsolete To ascribe or give good or bad fortune to.
v.
intr.Archaic
To occur by chance; happen.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin fortūna; see bher-1 in Indo-European roots.]
c.1300, "chance, luck as a force in human affairs," from O.Fr. fortune (12c.), from L. fortuna, from fors (gen. fortis) "chance, luck," from PIE base *bhrtis-. Often personified as a goddess; her wheel betokens vicissitude. Sense of "owned wealth" first found in Spenser; probably it evolved from senses of "one's condition or standing in life," hence "position as determined by wealth," then "wealth itself." Soldier of fortune first attested 1661. The fortune cookie (1962) is said to have been invented in 1918 by David Jung, Chinese immigrant to America who established Hong Kong Noodle Co., who handed out cookies that contained uplifting messages as a promotional gimmick. Fortune 500 "most profitable American companies" is 1955, from the list published annually in "Fortune" magazine. Fortunate Islands "mythical abode of the blessed dead, in the Western Ocean," 1432, translates L. Fortunatæ Insulæ.
an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that causes an event to result one way rather than another; "bad luck caused his downfall"; "we ran into each other by pure chance" [syn: luck]
2.
a large amount of wealth or prosperity
3.
an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that leads to a favorable outcome; "it was my good luck to be there"; "they say luck is a lady"; "it was as if fortune guided his hand" [syn: luck]
4.
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"
For*tu"i*tous\, a. [L. fortuitus; akin to forte, adv., by chance, prop. abl. of fors, fortis, chance. See Fortune.]1. Happening by chance; coming or occuring unexpectedly, or without any known cause; chance; as, the fortuitous concourse of atoms. It was from causes seemingly fortuitous . . . that all the mighty effects of the Reformation flowed. --Robertson. So as to throw a glancing and fortuitous light upon the whole. --Hazlitt. 2. (LAw) Happening independently of human will or means of foresight; resulting from unavoidable physical causes. --Abbott. Syn: Accidental; casual; contingent; incidental. See Accidental. -- For*tu"i*tous*ly, adv. -- For*tu"i*tous*ness, n.
For"tu*nate\ (?; 135), a. [L. fortunatus, p. p. of fortunare to make fortunate or prosperous, fr. fortuna. See Fortune, n.]1. Coming by good luck or favorable chance; bringing some good thing not foreseen as certain; presaging happiness; auspicious; as, a fortunate event; a fortunate concurrence of circumstances; a fortunate investment. 2. Receiving same unforeseen or unexpected good, or some good which was not dependent on one's own skill or efforts; favored with good forune; lucky. Syn: Auspicious; lucky; prosperous; successful; favored; happy. Usage: Fortunate, Successful, Prosperous. A man is fortunate, when he is favored of fortune, and has unusual blessings fall to his lot; successful when he gains what he aims at; prosperous when he succeeds in those things which men commonly desire. One may be fortunate, in some cases, where he is not successful; he may be successful, but, if he has been mistaken in the value of what he has aimed at, he may for that reason fail to be prosperous.
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