What does Fortune mean?
Definitions for Fortune
ˈfɔr tʃənfor·tune
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word Fortune.
Princeton's WordNet
luck, fortune, chance, hazardnoun
an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that causes an event to result one way rather than another
"bad luck caused his downfall"; "we ran into each other by pure chance"
fortunenoun
a large amount of wealth or prosperity
luck, fortunenoun
an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that leads to a favorable outcome
"it was my good luck to be there"; "they say luck is a lady"; "it was as if fortune guided his hand"
fortune, destiny, fate, luck, lot, circumstances, portionnoun
your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you)
"whatever my fortune may be"; "deserved a better fate"; "has a happy lot"; "the luck of the Irish"; "a victim of circumstances"; "success that was her portion"
Wiktionary
fortunenoun
Destiny or fate.
fortunenoun
A prediction or set of predictions about a person's future provided by a fortune teller.
fortunenoun
A small slip of paper with wise or vaguely prophetic words printed on it, baked into a fortune cookie.
fortunenoun
A chance.
fortunenoun
Good luck.
fortunenoun
One's wealth; the amount of money one has; especially, if it is vast.
fortunenoun
A large amount of money
That car must be worth a fortune! How could you afford it?
fortuneverb
To happen, take place.
Etymology: From fortuna. The plural form fortunae meant, which also gave the meaning of.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
FORTUNEnoun
Etymology: fortuna, Latin; fortune, French.
Fortune, that arrant whore,
Ne’er turns the key to th’ poor. William Shakespeare, King Lear.Though fortune ’s malice overthrow my state,
My mind exceeds the compass of her wheel. William Shakespeare, H. VI.Rejoice, said he, to-day;
In you the fortune of Great Britain lies:
Among so brave a people you are they
Whom heav’n has chose to fight for such a prize. Dryden.The adequate meaning of chance, as distinguished from fortune, in that the latter is understood to befal only rational agents, but chance to be among inanimate bodies. Richard Bentley.
His father dying, he was driven to London to seek his fortune. Jonathan Swift.
This terrestrial globe has been surrounded by the fortune and boldness of many navigators. William Temple.
No, he shall eat, and die with me, or live;
Our equal crimes shall equal fortune give. John Dryden, Innocence.If thou do’st
As this instructs thee, thou do’st make thy way
To noble fortunes. William Shakespeare, King Lear.That eyeless head of thine was first fram’d flesh
To raise my fortunes. William Shakespeare, King Lear.But tell me, Tityrus, what heav’nly power
Preserv’d your fortunes in that fatal hour? John Dryden, Virg. Past.The fate which governs poets, thought it fit
He should not raise his fortunes by his wit. Dryden.He was younger son to a gentleman of a good birth, but small fortune. Jonathan Swift.
I am thought some heiress rich in lands,
Fled to escape a cruel guardian’s hands;
Which may produce a story worth the telling,
Of the next sparks that go a fortune stealing. Prol. to Orphan.The fortune hunters have already cast their eyes upon her, and take care to plant themselves in her view. Spectator.
When miss delights in her spinnet,
A fiddler may a fortune get. Jonathan Swift.You who mens fortunes in their faces read,
To find out mine, look not, alas, on me:
But mark her face, and all the features heed;
For only there is writ my destiny. Abraham Cowley, Mistress.To Fortuneverb
To befall; to fall out; to happen; to come casually to pass.
Etymology: from the noun.
It fortuned, as fair it then befell,
Behind his back, unweeting, where he stood,
Of ancient time there was a springing well,
From which fast trickled forth a silver flood. Fairy Queen.It fortuned the same night that a Christian, serving a Turk in the camp, secretly gave the watchmen warning that the Turks prepared the next day to give a general assault. Richard Knolles.
I’ll tell you as we pass along,
That you will wonder what hath fortuned. William Shakespeare.Here fortun’d Curl to slide. Alexander Pope, Dunciad.
ChatGPT
fortune
Fortune refers to chance or luck as an arbitrary force affecting human affairs, often associated with wealth or success. It can also refer to a large amount of wealth or prosperity.
Webster Dictionary
Fortunenoun
the arrival of something in a sudden or unexpected manner; chance; accident; luck; hap; also, the personified or deified power regarded as determining human success, apportioning happiness and unhappiness, and distributing arbitrarily or fortuitously the lots of life
Fortunenoun
that which befalls or is to befall one; lot in life, or event in any particular undertaking; fate; destiny; as, to tell one's fortune
Fortunenoun
that which comes as the result of an undertaking or of a course of action; good or ill success; especially, favorable issue; happy event; success; prosperity as reached partly by chance and partly by effort
Fortunenoun
wealth; large possessions; large estate; riches; as, a gentleman of fortune
Fortunenoun
to make fortunate; to give either good or bad fortune to
Fortunenoun
to provide with a fortune
Fortunenoun
to presage; to tell the fortune of
Fortuneverb
to fall out; to happen
Etymology: [OF. fortuner, L. fortunare. See Fortune, n.]
Freebase
Fortune
Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. and founded by Henry Luce in 1930. The publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest media conglomerate. Fortune's primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Forbes, which is also published bi-weekly, and Bloomberg Businessweek. The magazine is especially known for its annual features ranking companies by revenue. CNNMoney.com is the online home of Fortune, in addition to Money.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Fortune
for′tūn, n. whatever comes by lot or chance: luck: the arbitrary ordering of events: the lot that falls to one in life: success: wealth.—v.i. to befall.—v.t. to determine.—adj. For′tunāte, happening by good fortune: lucky: auspicious: felicitous.—adv. For′tunātely.—ns. For′tunāteness; For′tune-book, a book helpful in telling fortunes.—adj. For′tuned, supplied by fortune.—n. For′tune-hunt′er, a man who hunts for marriage with a woman of fortune.—adj. For′tuneless, without a fortune: luckless.—v.i. For′tune-tell, to reveal futurity: to tell one his fortune.—ns. For′tune-tell′er, one who pretends to foretell one's fortune; For′tune-tell′ing.—v.t. For′tunīse (Spens.), to make fortunate or happy. [Fr.,—L. fortuna.]
Suggested Resources
fortune
Song lyrics by fortune -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by fortune on the Lyrics.com website.
Surnames Frequency by Census Records
FORTUNE
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Fortune is ranked #3051 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
The Fortune surname appeared 11,748 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 4 would have the surname Fortune.
56.8% or 6,676 total occurrences were White.
36.8% or 4,324 total occurrences were Black.
2.4% or 293 total occurrences were of two or more races.
2.1% or 257 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
0.9% or 112 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
0.7% or 87 total occurrences were Asian.
Matched Categories
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'Fortune' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4417
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'Fortune' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3536
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'Fortune' in Nouns Frequency: #1359
Anagrams for Fortune »
ten-four
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of Fortune in Chaldean Numerology is: 1
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of Fortune in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9
Examples of Fortune in a Sentence
It was Mario Cuomo's great gift and our good fortune that he was both a sterling orator and a passionate public servant. His life was a blessing.
We had 10 very significant clients ... Fortune 50 entities, call since Wednesday to start a Cuba conversation at a much more detailed and profound level.
Lament not Fortune?s mutability, And seize her fickle favours ere they flee; If others never mourned departed bliss, How should a turn of Fortune come to thee?
I have often thought that the cause of men?s good or ill fortune depends on whether they make their actions fit with the times. A man having prospered by one mode of acting can never be persuaded that it may be well for him to act differently, whence it is that a man?s Fortune varies, because she changes her times and he does not his ways.
Bill, they are making a fortune, Mexico is making a fortune off the United States, it's becoming the new China in terms of trade -- they're killing us at the border.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
Translations for Fortune
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- ثروةArabic
- съдба, щастие, състояние, богатство, късмет, сполука, шансBulgarian
- destí, fortunaCatalan, Valencian
- bohatství, osud, štěstíCzech
- Glück, Vermögen, Schicksal, VermGerman
- τύχηGreek
- fortunaSpanish
- adur, zoriBasque
- omaisuus, kohtalo, tuuri, sattuma, onniFinnish
- fortune, bonne chance, destinFrench
- àighScottish Gaelic
- גורלHebrew
- भाग्यHindi
- végzet, vagyon, szerencseHungarian
- fortunaInterlingua
- keberuntunganIndonesian
- fortunoIdo
- auðna, auður, örlög, lán, gæfaIcelandic
- fortuna, sorte, dote, destinoItalian
- 富, 機会, チャンス, 宿命, 幸運, 運命Japanese
- ಅದೃಷ್ಟKannada
- 기회, 機會Korean
- نوخشه, خۆشبهختKurdish
- fortuna, fortuneLatin
- vermogen, lot, kans, noodlot, geluk, fortuinDutch
- formueNorwegian
- fortuna, szczęściePolish
- sina, destino, chance, sorte, fortuna, fortúnioPortuguese
- avere, noroc, soartă, şansăRomanian
- состояние, участь, возможность, богатство, фортуна, шанс, удел, везение, удача, судьба, рок, доляRussian
- förmögenhet, tur, tillfällighet, fSwedish
- அதிர்ஷ்டம்Tamil
- అదృష్టంTelugu
- servetTurkish
- фортунаUkrainian
- benofät, mifät, fätVolapük
- 幸运Chinese
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