/fayt/ , n. , v. , fated, fating .
n.
1. something that unavoidably befalls a person; fortune; lot: It is always his fate to be left behind.
2. 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.
3. that which is inevitably predetermined; destiny: Death is our ineluctable fate.
4. a prophetic declaration of what must be: The oracle pronounced their fate.
5. death, destruction, or ruin.
6. the Fates , Class. Myth. the three goddesses of destiny, known to the Greeks as the Moerae and to the Romans as the Parcae.
v.t.
7. 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.
[ 1325-75; ME fatum utterance, decree of fate, destiny, orig. neut. of fatus, ptp. of fari to speak ]
Syn. 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 esp. applies to the final ending, always unhappy or terrible, brought about by destiny or fate: He met his doom bravely. 7. foreordain, preordain.