fortune
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfɔːt͡ʃuːn/
ipa: /ˈfoɹt͡ʃun/
ipa: /-t͡ʃən/
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)t͡ʃuːn
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)tʃən
Forms: form: fortunes
Etymology: From Middle English fortune, from Old French fortune, from Latin fortuna (“fate, luck”). The plural form fortunae meant “possessions”, which also gave fortune the meaning of “riches”.
Senses: examples: text: She read my fortune. Apparently I will have a good love life this week, but I will have a bad week for money.
text: you, who men's fortunes in their faces read
ref: 1647, Abraham Cowley, “My Fate”, in The Mistress:
text: […]his lordship was out of humour. That was the way Chollacombe described as knaggy an old gager as ever Charles had had the ill-fortune to serve.
ref: 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:
synonyms: word: doom
word: fate
word: chance
word: destin
word: destiny
word: doom
word: fatality
word: fate
word: foredoom
word: foreordination
word: fortune
word: kismet
word: lot
word: orlay
word: portion
word: predestination
word: predestiny
word: preordination
word: qadar
word: weird
word: wyrd
glosses: Destiny, especially favorable.
glosses: A prediction or set of predictions about a person's future provided by a fortune teller.
glosses: A small slip of paper with wise or vaguely prophetic words printed on it, baked into a fortune cookie.
examples: text: 'Tis more by fortune, lady, than by merit.
ref: c. 1607–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, [George Wilkins?], The Late, and Much Admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. […], London: […] [William White and Thomas Creede] for Henry Gosson, […], published 1609, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
synonyms: word: hap
word: luck
word: adventure
word: accident
word: casualty
word: chance
word: chance-medley
word: fortune
word: hap
word: hazard
word: joss
word: luck
word: serendipity
word: weird
glosses: The arrival of something in a sudden or unexpected manner; chance; accident.
examples: text: fame and fortune
text: Fortune favors the brave.
text: There is a tide in the affairs of men / Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.
ref: 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:
synonyms: word: fortuity
word: felicity
word: fortune
word: fortuitousness
word: fortuity
word: good fortune
word: good luck
word: happiness
word: luck
word: luck of the Irish
antonyms: doom
fate
misfortune
glosses: Good luck.
examples: text: He's amassed a small fortune working in the Middle East.
text: My vast fortune was a result of inheritance and stock market nous.
text: Her fortune is estimated at 3 million dollars.
text: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
ref: 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter I, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 1:
synonyms: word: riches
word: abundance
word: affluence
word: cheese
word: ease
word: fortune
word: Mammon
word: opulence
word: plenty
word: richdom
word: riches
word: wealth
glosses: One's wealth; the amount of money one has, especially if it is vast.
examples: text: That car must be worth a fortune! How could you afford it?
text: Why spend a small fortune on Puma when you could buy Numa, Tuna or Pigg? And why buy Adidas when you can buy Adidos or Avivas? Nike, when there's Nire or Hike? Calvin Klein, when clearly, Calvim Klain or Cavern Kernel are just as good? But remember, after a good workout, be sure to clean up with some Okay shampoo.
ref: 2015 June 24, “Top 10 Chinese Knockoffs of Foreign Products” (00:02:53 from the start), in China Uncensored, spoken by himself (Chris Chappell), New Tang Dynasty Television, via New Tang Dynasty Television:
glosses: A large amount of money.
Derived terms: befortune
bracelets of fortune
every man is the architect of his own fortune
fortunate
fortune cookie
fortune favors the bold
fortune favours the bold
fortune favors the brave
fortune favours the brave
fortune favors the daring
fortune favours the daring
fortune-hunter
fortune hunter
fortune hunting
fortuneless
fortune-seeker
fortune seeker
fortune stick
fortune-tell
fortune-teller
fortune-telling
fortune telling
fortunize
good fortune
hostage to fortune
ill-fortune
make a fortune
megafortune
seek one's fortune
small fortune
soldier of fortune
stroke of fortune
Temple Fortune
unfortunate
unfortuned
wanfortune
wheel of fortune
wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune
Related terms: fortuitous
fortuity