Definitions for fortune
ˈfɔr tʃənfor·tune

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. 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"

2. fortunenoun

   a large amount of wealth or prosperity

3. 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"

4. 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"

WiktionaryRate this definition:3.0 / 2 votes

1. fortunenoun

   Destiny or fate.

2. fortunenoun

   A prediction or set of predictions about a person's future provided by a fortune teller.

3. fortunenoun

   A small slip of paper with wise or vaguely prophetic words printed on it, baked into a fortune cookie.

4. fortunenoun

   A chance.

5. fortunenoun

   Good luck.

6. fortunenoun

   One's wealth; the amount of money one has; especially, if it is vast.

7. fortunenoun

   A large amount of money

   That car must be worth a fortune! How could you afford it?

8. fortuneverb

   To happen, take place.

9. Etymology: From fortuna. The plural form fortunae meant, which also gave the meaning of.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. FORTUNEnoun

   Etymology: fortuna, Latin; fortune, French.

   1. The power supposed to distribute the lots of life according to her own humour.

   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.

   2. The good or ill that befals man.

   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.

   3. The chance of life; means of living.

   His father dying, he was driven to London to seek his fortune. Jonathan Swift.

   4. Event; success good or bad.

   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.

   5. Estate; possessions.

   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.

   6. The portion of a man or woman: generally of a woman.

   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.

   7. Futurity; future events.

   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.

2. 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.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. 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 DictionaryRate this definition:4.5 / 2 votes

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. Fortunenoun

   wealth; large possessions; large estate; riches; as, a gentleman of fortune

5. Fortunenoun

   to make fortunate; to give either good or bad fortune to

6. Fortunenoun

   to provide with a fortune

7. Fortunenoun

   to presage; to tell the fortune of

8. Fortuneverb

   to fall out; to happen

9. Etymology: [OF. fortuner, L. fortunare. See Fortune, n.]

FreebaseRate this definition:4.0 / 1 vote

1. 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 DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. 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 ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. fortune

   Song lyrics by fortune -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by fortune on the Lyrics.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. 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

1. • Condition
   • Phenomenon
   • Treasure

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'fortune' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4417

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'fortune' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3536

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'fortune' in Nouns Frequency: #1359

Anagrams for fortune »

1. ten-four

How to pronounce fortune?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say fortune in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of fortune in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of fortune in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of fortune in a Sentence

1. Siegfried Fischbacher:

   My eye caught something in the window ; it was a book on magic, i knew I had to have it. I can't explain, even now, why that was. All that stood in the way was five marks -- for me a fortune, a fortune for any little boy in Germany in 1947.

2. Omar Khayyam:

   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?

3. Pedro Freyre:

   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.

4. Saadi:

   The bad fortune of the good turns their faces up to heaven; the good fortune of the bad bows their heads down to the earth.

5. Eric Fortune:

   Oftentimes, what happens is after Eric Fortune have inhibition, Eric Fortune have a rebound, and that rebound can change the timing of Eric Fortune own behavior.

Popularity rank by frequency of use