fortune

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See also: Fortune and fortuné

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Etymology[edit]

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”.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

fortune (countable and uncountable, plural fortunes)

  1. Destiny, especially favorable.
    She read my fortune. Apparently I will have a good love life this week, but I will have a bad week for money.
    • 1647, Abraham Cowley, The Mistress (“My Fate”):
      you, who men's fortunes in their faces read
    • 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:
      [] 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.
  2. A prediction or set of predictions about a person's future provided by a fortune teller.
  3. A small slip of paper with wise or vaguely prophetic words printed on it, baked into a fortune cookie.
  4. The arrival of something in a sudden or unexpected manner; chance; accident.
  5. Good luck.
    Fortune favors the brave.
  6. One's wealth; the amount of money one has, especially if it is vast.
    He's amassed a small fortune working in the Middle East.
    My vast fortune was a result of inheritance and stock market nous.
    Her fortune is estimated at 3 million dollars.
  7. A large amount of money.
    That car must be worth a fortune! How could you afford it?
    • 2015 June 24, “Top 10 Chinese Knockoffs of Foreign Products”, in China Uncensored[1], New Tang Dynasty Television, New Tang Dynasty Television, spoken by himself (Chris Chappell), 00:02:53 from the start:
      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.

Synonyms[edit]

Antonyms[edit]

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Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

fortune (third-person singular simple present fortunes, present participle fortuning, simple past and past participle fortuned)

  1. (transitive)
    1. To provide (someone) with a fortune.
    2. To tell the fortune of (someone); to presage.
  2. (intransitive, obsolete) To happen, to take place. [14th–19th c.]

Anagrams[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Inherited from Middle French fortune, from Old French fortune, borrowed from Latin fortūna.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

fortune f (plural fortunes)

  1. fortune
    faire une fortune
    make a fortune
    faire fortune
    make a fortune

Derived terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Italian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /forˈtu.ne/
  • Rhymes: -une
  • Hyphenation: for‧tù‧ne

Noun[edit]

fortune f

  1. plural of fortuna

Anagrams[edit]

Middle English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old French fortune, from Latin fortuna.

Noun[edit]

fortune (plural fortunes)

  1. fortune (fate, chance)

Descendants[edit]

  • English: fortune
  • Scots: fortuin

Middle French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old French fortune, borrowed from Latin fortuna.

Noun[edit]

fortune f (plural fortunes)

  1. fortune (fate, chance)

Descendants[edit]