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fatal

 - 7 dictionary results

fa⋅tal

  [feyt-l]
Use fatal in a Sentence
–adjective
1. causing or capable of causing death; mortal; deadly: a fatal accident; a fatal dose of poison.
2. causing destruction, misfortune, ruin, or failure: The withdrawal of funds was fatal to the project.
3. decisively important; fateful: The fatal day finally arrived.
4. proceeding from or decreed by fate; inevitable: a fatal series of events.
5. influencing or concerned with fate; fatalistic.
6. Obsolete. doomed.
7. Obsolete. prophetic.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME (< OF) < L fātālis of fate. See fate, -al 1

Related forms:
fa⋅tal⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. Fatal, deadly, lethal, mortal apply to something that has caused or is capable of causing death. Fatal may refer to either the future or the past; in either case, it emphasizes inevitability and the inescapable—the disastrous, whether death or dire misfortune: The accident was fatal. Such a mistake would be fatal. Deadly looks to the future, and suggests that which is likely to cause death (though not inevitably so): a deadly poison, disease. Like deadly, lethal looks to the future but, like many other words of Latin origin, suggests a more technical usage: a lethal dose; a gas that is lethal. Mortal looks to the past and refers to death that has actually occurred: He received a mortal wound. The disease proved to be mortal. 2. ruinous, disastrous, calamitous, catastrophic, devastating. 4. predestined, foreordained.

Antonyms:
1. life-giving.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To fatal
fa·tal   (fāt'l)   
adj.  

  1. Causing or capable of causing death.

  2. Causing ruin or destruction; disastrous: "Such doctrines, if true, would be absolutely fatal to my theory" (Charles Darwin).

  3. Of decisive importance; fateful: came through at the fatal moment.

  4. Concerning or determining one's fate: the fatal thread of life.

  5. Obsolete Having been destined; fated.


[Middle English, fateful, from Old French, from Latin fātālis, from fātum, prophecy, doom; see fate.]
Synonyms: These adjectives apply to what causes or is likely to cause death. Fatal describes conditions, circumstances, or events that have caused or are destined to cause death or dire consequences: a fatal illness.
Deadly means capable of killing: a deadly poison.
Mortal describes a condition or action that produces death: a mortal wound.
Lethal refers to a sure agent of death that may have been created solely for the purpose of killing: execution by lethal injection.
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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Word Origin & History

fatal 
c.1374, "decreed by fate," from L. fatalis "ordained by fate," from fatum (see fate); sense of "causing death" is c.1430. Fatality "disaster resulting in death" is from 1840; fatalism appeared 1678 as the philosophical doctrine that all things are determined by fate; fatalist in the general sense of "one who accepts every event as inevitable" is from 1734.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: fa·tal
Function: adjective
1 : causing failure of a legal claim or cause of action fatal defect in the proceedings —W. Railroad LaFave and J. H. Israel>
2 : making something (as a contract) invalid or unenforceable fatal indefiniteness with the result that the agreement is void —J. D. Calamari and J. M. Perillo> —fa·tal·ly adverb
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: fa·tal
Pronunciation: 'fAt-&l
Function: adjective
: causing death fatal diabetic coma —HavelockEllis> —fa·tal·ly /'fAt-&l-E/ adverb
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

fatal fa·tal (fāt'l)
adj.
Causing or capable of causing death.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Computing Dictionary

fatal programming
Resulting in termination of the program.
(1997-08-03)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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