from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Fortune \For"tune\ (f[^o]r"t[-u]n; 135), n. [F. fortune, L.
fortuna; akin to fors, fortis, chance, prob. fr. ferre to
bear, bring. See {Bear} to support, and cf. {Fortuitous}.]
1. 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.
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'T is more by fortune, lady, than by merit. --Shak.
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O Fortune, Fortune, all men call thee fickle.
--Shak.
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2. 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.
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You, who men's fortunes in their faces read.
--Cowley.
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3. 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.
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Our equal crimes shall equal fortune give. --Dryden.
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There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.
--Shak.
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His father dying, he was driven to seek his fortune.
--Swift.
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4. Wealth; large possessions; large estate; riches; as, a
gentleman of fortune.
Syn: Chance; accident; luck; fate.
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{Fortune book}, a book supposed to reveal future events to
those who consult it. --Crashaw.
{Fortune hunter}, one who seeks to acquire wealth by
marriage.
{Fortune teller}, one who professes to tell future events in
the life of another.
{Fortune telling}, the practice or art of professing to
reveal future events in the life of another.
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