Fate
[feɪt] or [fet]
Definition
(n.) A fixed decree by which the order of things is prescribed; the immutable law of the universe; inevitable necessity; the force by which all existence is determined and conditioned.
(n.) Appointed lot; allotted life; arranged or predetermined event; destiny; especially, the final lot; doom; ruin; death.
(n.) The element of chance in the affairs of life; the unforeseen and unestimated conitions considered as a force shaping events; fortune; esp., opposing circumstances against which it is useless to struggle; as, fate was, or the fates were, against him.
(n.) The three goddesses, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, sometimes called the Destinies, or Parcaewho were supposed to determine the course of human life. They are represented, one as holding the distaff, a second as spinning, and the third as cutting off the thread.
Checked by Cecily
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Destiny, destination, fatality, inevitable necessity.[2]. Doom, lot, predetermined event.[3]. Death, destruction.[4]. Final event, ultimate fortune.
Checked by Evita
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Necessity, destiny, lot, end, fortune, doom
ANT:Will, choice, decision, freedom, independence
Checker: Sumner
Definition
n. inevitable destiny or necessity: appointed lot: ill-fortune: doom: final issue: (pl.) the three goddesses of fate Clotho Lachesis and Atropos who determined the birth life and death of men—the Fatal Sisters.—adj. Fāt′al belonging to or appointed by fate: causing ruin or death: mortal: calamitous.—ns. Fāt′alism the doctrine that all events are subject to fate and happen by unavoidable necessity; Fāt′alist one who believes in fatalism.—adj. Fāt′alistic belonging to or partaking of fatalism.—n. Fatal′ity the state of being fatal or unavoidable: the decree of fate: fixed tendency to disaster or death: mortality: a fatal occurrence.—adv. Fāt′ally.—adjs. Fāt′ed doomed: destined: (Shak.) invested with the power of destiny: (Dryden) enchanted; Fate′ful charged with fate.—adv. Fate′fully.—n. Fate′fulness.
Checker: Vivian
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream of the fates, unnecessary disagreements and unhappiness is foretold. For a young woman to dream of juggling with fate, denotes she will daringly interpose herself between devoted friends or lovers.
Edited by Eva
Examples
- Mine is a curious fate. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- Own now that you were going to join the army and leave us to our fate. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- And what, think you, may have been the fate of the princess, Dejah Thoris? Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Princess of Mars.
- But one word of the fate of poor Gurth, and I have done with questioning thee. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- After all, I have played my part to the best of my ability on this life's stage, but Fate has been too strong for me. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- A gloomy Fate had oppressed her there. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- With these words, the matron dropped into her chair, and, once more resting her elbow on the table, thought of her solitary fate. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- Yet they all had lived and died unconscious of the different fates awaiting their relics. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- The fates are against you, Watson, said he, laughing. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- Most of us, indeed, know little of the great originators until they have been lifted up among the constellations and already rule our fates. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- The fates have not been kind to you, Eustacia Yeobright. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- Or the verse 'The saddest of fates is to die and meet destiny from hunger? Plato. The Republic.
- But what you may call the Fates ordered him into it again. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- Other vengeance than mine had followed that fated man from the theatre to his own door--from his own door to his refuge in Paris. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Far up in a sheltered nook, under the red cliffs, twelve graves had been dug in the soft sand, and in these were the ill-fated seamen laid. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- The attachment between them led to the ill-fated marriage, of which I was the offspring. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- Upon my word and honour I seem to be fated, and destined, and ordained, to live in the midst of things that I am never to hear the last of. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- Is it not your duty to yourself to forget this ill-fated attachment? Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- But it was not fated that I should sleep that night. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- I entered the cabin, where lay the remains of my ill-fated and admirable friend. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
Checked by Clive