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fate

[feyt]

Origin

noun

something that unavoidably befalls a person; fortune; lot: It is always his fate to be left behind.

the universal principle or ultimate agency by which the order of things is presumably prescribed; the decreed cause of events; time: Fate decreed that they would never meet again.

that which is inevitably predetermined; destiny: Death is our ineluctable fate.

a prophetic declaration of what must be: The oracle pronounced their fate.

death, destruction, or ruin.

EXPAND

the Fates, Classical Mythology. the three goddesses of destiny, known to the Greeks as the Moerae and to the Romans as the Parcae.

COLLAPSE

verb (used with object)

to predetermine, as by the decree of fate; destine (used in the passive): a person who was fated to be the savior of the country.

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Fate is always a great word to know.

So is cornucopia. Does it mean:

a water or marsh serpent with nine heads, each of which, if cut off, grew back as two, finally killed by Hercules

a horn containing food or drink in endless supply, said to have been a horn of the goat Amalthaea

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Origin:
1325–75; Middle English < Latin fātum utterance, decree of fate, destiny, orig. neuter of fātus, past participle of fārī to speak

Can be confused: fate, fete (see synonym note at the current entry).

Synonyms
1. karma, kismet; chance, luck. Fate, destiny, doom refer to the idea of a fortune, usually adverse, that is predetermined and inescapable. The three words are frequently interchangeable. Fate stresses the irrationality and impersonal character of events: It was Napoleon's fate to be exiled. The word is often lightly used, however: It was my fate to meet her that very afternoon. Destiny emphasizes the idea of an unalterable course of events, and is often used of a propitious fortune: It was his destiny to save his nation. Doom especially applies to the final ending, always unhappy or terrible, brought about by destiny or fate: He met his doom bravely. 7. foreordain, preordain.

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To fate

Collins

World English Dictionary

fate (feɪt)

—n
1.	the ultimate agency that predetermines the course of events
2.	the inevitable fortune that befalls a person or thing; destiny
3.	the end or final result
4.	a calamitous or unfavourable outcome or result; death, destruction, or downfall

—vb
5.	(tr; usually passive) to predetermine; doom: he was fated to lose the game

[C14: from Latin fātum oracular utterance, from fārī to speak]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

fate

late 14c., from L. fata, neut. pl. of fatum "thing spoken (by the gods), one's destiny," from neut. pp. of fari "to speak," from PIE *bha- "speak" (see fame). The L. sense evolution is from "sentence of the Gods" (Gk. theosphaton), subsequently "lot, portion" (Gk. moira, personified

EXPAND

as a goddess in Homer), later "one of the three goddesses (Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos) who determined the course of a human life." Related: Fated.

COLLAPSE

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

fate

In addition to the idioms beginning with fate, also see seal one's fate; tempt fate.