fortune

[ fawr-chuhn ]

noun

1. position in life as determined by wealth:

   It's not easy to make one's fortune from humble beginnings.

2. wealth or riches:

   He lost a small fortune in bad investments.

3. great wealth; ample stock of money, property, and the like:

   Those gems are worth a fortune.

4. chance; luck:

   They each had the bad fortune to marry the wrong person.

   Synonyms: karma, kismet, providence, destiny, fate

5. fortunes. things that happen or are to happen to a person in their life:

   Her charitable spirit stayed with her even as her fortunes changed with marriage.

6. fate; lot; destiny:

   Whatever my fortune may be, my faith will guide me.

7. Fortune. chance personified, commonly regarded as a mythical being distributing arbitrarily or capriciously the lots of life:

   Perhaps Fortune will smile on our venture.

   Synonyms: Lady Luck, Moira

8. good luck; success; prosperity:

   The family was blessed by fortune.

9. Archaic. a wealthy woman; an heiress.

verb (used with object)

, for·tuned, for·tun·ing.

1. Archaic. to endow (someone or something) with a fortune.

verb (used without object)

, for·tuned, for·tun·ing.

1. Archaic. to chance or happen; come by chance.

fortune

/ ˈfɔːtʃən /

noun

1. an amount of wealth or material prosperity, esp, when unqualified, a great amount
2. small fortune
   a large sum of money
3. a power or force, often personalized, regarded as being responsible for human affairs; chance
4. luck, esp when favourable
5. often plural a person's lot or destiny

verb

1. archaic.
   1. tr to endow with great wealth
   2. intr to happen by chance

Derived Forms

• ˈfortuneless, adjective

Other Words From

• fortune·less adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of fortune¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin fortūna “chance, luck, fortune,” derivative of fort- (stem of fors ) “chance”

Word History and Origins

Origin of fortune¹

C13: from Old French, from Latin fortūna , from fors chance

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. tell someone's fortune, to profess to inform someone of future events in their own life; foretell.

More idioms and phrases containing fortune

see make a fortune .

Example Sentences

The fortunes of social media and crypto have become increasingly intertwined, as online hype has helped stoke interest in digital currencies.

From New York Times

James Howells, 39, has been trying to retrieve the hard drive containing his lost Bitcoin fortune, which he believes is in a Newport landfill site, for over a decade.

From BBC

Anderson said Moore and her ex-boyfriend, Anthony David Flores, had embarked on a scheme to exploit the victim, Mark Sawusch, and “hijack his fortune.”

From Los Angeles Times

The phrase, which references how quickly fortunes can change, feels like one of the most fitting “Harbaughisms” for a team trying to shed its history as crunch-time losers.

From Los Angeles Times

My eldest child had the good fortune to be in a small program within her public school, open to all until the spaces were filled, that solved much of the differentiation problem.

From Los Angeles Times