FATAL


Meaning of FATAL in English

I. ˈfād. ə l, -āt ə l adjective

Etymology: Middle English, from Latin & Middle French; Middle French fatal, from Latin fatalis, from fatum fate + -alis -al — more at fate

1. obsolete

a. : decreed or appointed by destiny : fated

b. : doomed, condemned

2. : attended by or fraught with acts or a potential act of fate : fateful

a fatal hour

a fatal spot

3.

a. : of or belonging to fate

this science sets a fatal necessity on things — H.O.Taylor

: concerned with or dealing in fate

the fatal thread of his life had nearly run out

: resembling fate in foretelling destiny : prophetic

felt he could console himself by arguing that death was written in the fatal books

b. : like fate in proceeding according to an inevitable or fixed sequence

there was always physical exercise, but that had a fatal way of coming after a time to raise more problems than it solved — Rebecca West

c. obsolete : ominous , foreboding

d. : determining one's fate

this fatal gift of enthusiasm, an inherited trait which determined her later life — E.S.Bates

the fatal flaw in this dazzling woman: a total lack of taste — Marya Mannes

4.

a. : causing death

a fatal blow

the fatal weapon was found by the police

a fatal diabetic coma — Havelock Ellis

b. : causing or resulting in destruction or ruin : calamitous , disastrous

the fatal weekend on which he lost his total fortune in a fire

the fatal eruption of the volcano that destroyed people and towns and ruined the countryside

c. : difficult to avoid and causing a harm or evil less grievous than death or ruin

the fatal moment in which she accepted his proposal and began a life of boredom and frustration

a fatal invitation to triviality — Mark Schorer

specifically of a woman : ruinously attractive : being a femme fatale

Synonyms: see deadly

II. noun

( -s )

Etymology: fatal , adjective

: fatality 5a

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.