destiny

See also: Destiny

English

Etymology

From Middle English destine et al., from Old French destinee, from Latin dēstinō (English destine). Displaced native Old English wyrd.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛs.tɪ.ni/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

destiny (plural destinies)

1. That to which any person or thing is destined; a predetermined state; a condition predestined by the Divine or by human will.

   Synonyms: fate, lot

   Death is the destiny of all mortal men.

   • 1914, Li Ung Bing, “The Second Joint Regency of the Empress”, in Joseph Whiteside, editor, Outlines of Chinese History‎^[1], Shanghai: The Commercial Press, →OCLC, page 565:

     Her death (April 18, 1881) left the Empress Ts‘ŭ Hsi, the playmate of her youth, the sole Regent of China, with the destiny of four hundred millions of human beings in her hands.

2. That which is inevitable in the fullness of time.
3. One's eventual fate (not necessarily inevitable or predestined).
   • 1986, "Weird Al" Yankovic (lyrics and music), “Christmas at Ground Zero”, in Polka Party!‎^[2]:

     Everywhere the atom bombs are dropping / It's the end of all humanity / No more time for last-minute shopping / It's time to face your final destiny

4. The fixed order of things; invincible necessity; an irresistible power or agency conceived of as determining the future, whether in general or of an individual.

   Synonym: fate

   Dara doesn't believe in using dating apps - she insists that destiny will find her other half.

   • 2007, Drew Karpyshyn, Mass Effect: Revelation‎^[3] (Science Fiction), Del Rey Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, pages 320–321:

     But it was much more than a mere ship. Its systems, processes, and technology were so advanced that they dwarfed every accomplishment of the Citadel species. Its grandeur and complexity rivaled the greatest creations of the Protheans—the mass relays and the Citadel. It may have even surpassed them. And if Saren could learn and understand how it worked, he could seize all that power for himself.
     He’d spent his entire life preparing for a moment like this. Everything he’d ever done—his military service, his career with the Spectres—was only a prelude to this revelation. Now he had found his true purpose; destiny had led him here.

Synonyms

• fate
• orlay

Derived terms

• date with destiny
• manifest destiny

Related terms

• destinate
• destination
• destine

Translations

predetermined condition; fate; fixed order of things — see fate

See also

• doom

See also

• destination

References

• “destiny”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• density