▪ I. fate, n.
(feɪt)
[ad. L. fātum, lit. ‘that which has been spoken’, neut. pa. pple. of fārī to speak. The primary sense of the L. word is a sentence or doom of the gods (= Gr. θέσϕατον); but it was subsequently used as the equivalent of the Gr. µοῖρα, which, originally meaning only a person's ‘lot’ or ‘portion’, had come to express the more abstract conception explained below (sense 1), and its personification as a mythological being.
Cf. OF. fat(e, Pr. fat, It. fato, Pg. fado, Sp. hado. (The pl. fāta gave rise in popular L. to the fem. sing. fāta fairy: for the Rom. forms of this see fay n.) The immediate source of the Eng. word is doubtful. Chaucer uses it in Troylus (where he translates from Boccaccio's Italian), but in rendering the Latin of Boethius he uses only destiné.]
1. a. The principle, power, or agency by which, according to certain philosophical and popular systems of belief, all events, or some events in particular, are unalterably predetermined from eternity. Often personified.
The OE. synonym was wyrd: see weird.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 1550 The fate wold his soule shold vnbodye. 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. i. 32 Stand fast good Fate to his hanging. 1655–60 Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 191/1 Concerning Fate, Plato held thus: All things are in Fate, yet all things are not decreed by Fate. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 232 When everlasting Fate shall yield To fickle Chance. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. 161 Fate, and the Laws or Commands of the Deity, concerning the Mundane Oeconomy..being really the same thing. 1701 Rowe Amb. Step-Moth. i. i, Fate, Or somewhat like the force of Fate was in it. 1770 J. Love Cricket 24 Jove, and all-compelling Fate. 1777 Priestley Philos. Necess. Pref. 25 Fate was some⁓thing that even the gods often endeavoured..to resist. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. i. 106 We..Fate's fixed will from Nature's wanderings learn. a 1848 R. W. Hamilton Rew. & Punishm. viii. (1853) 345 The idea of fate sets us free from the sense of blame. 1875 Farrar Silence & V. i. 11 What is He but a vast formless Fate? |
b. fig.| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 68 So pertaunt like would I o'resway his state That he shold be my foole, and I his fate. 1701 Rowe Amb. Step-Moth. iv. i, I am Fate in Persia And Life and Death depend upon my Pleasure. |
2. Mythol. a. The goddess of fate or destiny; in Homer Μοῖρα.
b. pl. In later Greek and Roman mythology, the three goddesses supposed to determine the course of human life (
Gr. Μοῖραι, L.
Parcæ,
Fata).
In
Gr. the three Fates are called Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos; these names were adopted by Latin poets, but the mythologists give as native names Nona, Decuma, and Morta.
| 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 199 Pir... Like Limander am I trusty still. This. And [I] like Helen till the Fates me kill. 1709 Pope Jan. & May 193 Bless the kind fates, and think your fortune rare. 1794 Sullivan View Nat. V. 338 Thread, which is spun by the fates in one part uniform and strong, in another weakened. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xxx, Your slightest desires seem a law to the Fates. 1847 Tennyson Princ. ii. 443 We three Sat muffled like the Fates. |
3. That which is destined or fated to happen.
a. gen. Also in
pl. Predestined events.
as sure as fate: see
sure adv. 4 a.
| 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 173 What I will is Fate. So spake th' Almightie. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 738 Th' inspected Entrails cou'd no Fates foretel. 1732 Pope Ess. Man i. 73 Heav'n from all creatures hides the book of fate. 1849 James Woodman vii, Tis the best way of meeting fate. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xvi. i, There lay in the fates a Third Silesian War for him. |
b. Of an individual, an empire, etc.: The predestined or appointed lot; what a person, etc. is fated to do or suffer.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 209 He curseth..His byrthe, hym self, his fate, and ek nature. 1559 Mirr. Mag., Dk. of Clarence lv, To flye theyr fate. 1603 B. Jonson Sejanus i. ii, How blest a fate were it to us. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. ii. (1843) 57/2 By a very extraordinary fate [he had] got a very particular interest..in many worthy men. 1668 Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 10 Mr. Ho..deserves a better fate. a 1717 Bp. O. Blackall Wks. (1723) I. 25 It has been commonly their Fate to fare hardlier. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 164 The general fate of sects is to obtain a high reputation for sanctity while they are oppressed. 1848 W. H. Bartlett Egypt to Pal. iv. (1879) 68 A noteworthy comment on the fate of human pride. |
c. In etymological sense: An oracle or portent of doom.
| 1850 Mrs. Browning Poems II. 50 The solemn knell fell in with the tale of life and sin, Like a rhythmic fate sublime. |
4. a. What will become of, or has become of (a person or thing); ultimate condition; destiny. Often in
to decide,
fix,
seal one's fate.
a fate worse than death: see
death n. 17 b.
| 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) I. 584 The lover waits for the decision of his mistress to fix his fate. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §322 Anxiety for the fate of the Edystone. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xii, If she is now discovered her fate is certain. 1838 Lytton Leila i. ii, The base misers..deserve their fate. 1841 Elphinstone Hist. Ind. II. 581 It only remained to the brothers to decide on the fate of its tenant. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. ii. 163 He was obliged to bear the..fate of a minister, who..had thwarted the popular will. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. III. xc. 246 More of it may share the same fate. 1891 E. Peacock N. Brendon II. 142 Plumer's fate was sealed. |
b. Death, destruction, ruin.
| c 1430 Lydg. Bochas iii. xxvi. (1554) 97 b, Cirus was passed into fate. 1635 Shirley Coronat. iv, Will you assist, and run a fate with us. 1643 Denham Cooper's H. 114 In the Common Fate, The adjoyning Abby fell. 1701 Rowe Amb. Step-Moth. i. i, Thousand vulgar fates Which their Drugs daily hasten. 1852 C. M. Yonge Cameos I. xl. 345 Their fate has been well sung by Lord Houghton. |
c. An instrument of death or destruction.
poet.| 1700 Dryden Iliad i. 74 He..Feather'd Fates among the Mules and Sumpters sent. 1715–20 Pope Iliad i. 68 Hissing fly the feather'd fates. |
5. attrib. and
Comb. a. simple
attrib., as
fate-spell; also
fate-like adj.;
b. objective, as
fate-denouncing,
fate-foretelling,
fate-scorning ppl. adjs.;
c. instrumental, as
fate-environed,
fate-fenced (implied in
fate-fencedness),
fate-folden,
fate-furrowed,
fate-menanced,
fate-stricken adjs.| 1708 Ozell tr. Boileau's Lutrin 48 The Bird of Night With *Fate-denouncing Outcries takes his Flight. |
| 1835 Talfourd Ion ii. i, Why should I waste these *fate-environ'd hours. |
| 1827 Hare Guesses (1859) 80 His own *fate-fencedness, or, as he would call it, his luck. |
| 1880 W. Watson Prince's Quest (1892) 93 An enchanted sea From all the world *fate-folden. |
| 1777 Potter æschylus 173 The *fate-foretelling seer, Amphiaraus. |
| 1804 J. Grahame Sabbath 329 Relentless Justice! with *fate-furrow'd brow! |
| 1860 O. W. Holmes Elsie V. xv, The expression of the creatures [rattlesnakes] was..*fate-like. |
| 1834 F. Wrangham Homerics 7 Knew'st thou what misfortunes lie, *Fate-menaced, on thine homeward way. |
| 1850 Mrs. Browning Poems II. 282 Proud Œdipus, *fate-scorning. |
| a 1618 Sylvester Sonnets iv, Vnder that *Fate-spell onely are fore⁓showne Eternall praises. |
| 1866 Swinburne Poems & Ballads (1868) 172 Our greatest from his throne *Fate-stricken, and rejected of his own. |
d. fate-line Palmistry, a line in the palm of the hand supposed to indicate a person's fate in worldly affairs.
| 1889 K. St. Hill Gram. Palmistry ii. 43 When the Fate Line is tortuous..it is a sign of misfortune, or bad character. 1945 E. Bowen Demon Lover 103 Dirt engraved the fate-lines in Mary's palms. |
▪ II. fate, v. (
feɪt)
[f. prec. n.] † 1. trans. To ruin irrevocably.
Obs.| c 1400 Destr. Troy 5091 A fame [may] be defoulede, & fatid for euer. |
2. To preordain as by the decree of fate. Const.
to and
to with
inf. Obs. exc. in
pass. in sense: To be appointed or destined by fate. Often
quasi-impers. with subject clause.
| 1601 Shakes. All's Well iv. iv. 20 Heauen..hath fated her to be my..helper to a husband. 1610 ― Temp. i. ii. 129 A treacherous Armie leuied, one mid-night Fated to th' purpose. 1725 Pope Odyss. iv. 248 Fated to wander. 1828 D'Israeli Chas. I, I. i. 4 It was fated that England should be the theatre of the first of a series of Revolutions. 1860 Emerson Cond. Life, Fate Wks. (Bohn) II. 310 Whatever is fated, that will take place. 1867 M. E. Herbert Cradle L. v. 152 The breathing-time..was fated to be of short duration. |
† b. ellipt. To destine to death.
Obs.| 1788 Cowper Stanzas for 1788. 18 Could I prophetic say Who next is fated. |
▪ III. fate obs. form of
fat v.,
feat.