fortune

Pluralfortunes

Formsfortunes, fortuning, fortuned

1. 1
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A very large sum of money.

   She spent a fortune renovating the historic theater.

   The painting sold for a small fortune at auction.

   Similarbundle, packet, mint, bomb, pile

   Oppositepittance, trifle

   Note

   Unlike one's total wealth, this is a sum that is paid, charged or owed. It usually takes a: worth a fortune, spend a fortune. Its set phrase is a small fortune, which is never small. The understatement is the point, as in "Why spend a small fortune on Puma when you could buy Numa?" The phrase is conversational, and it suits complaints about prices.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   The total wealth a person possesses, especially when it is very large.

   The family built its fortune in shipping over three generations.

   He gambled away his entire fortune in a single year.

   Similarwealth, riches, affluence, opulence, abundance

   Oppositepoverty

   Note

   The money sense has its own Latin root: the plural fortunae meant "possessions", and that is how the word came to mean riches. It names everything a person holds, so it takes possessives and estimates, as in her fortune is estimated at 3 million dollars. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1813) opens on "a single man in possession of a good fortune," where good means ample, not lucky.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   Good luck; favorable outcomes that come about by chance.

   Through sheer fortune, the climbers avoided the avalanche entirely.

   He attributed his success more to fortune than to skill.

   Similarluck, happiness, felicity

   Oppositemisfortune

   Note

   Luck as a force rather than a lot. The proverb Fortune favors the brave treats it almost as a person, and it pairs naturally in fame and fortune. In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, a tide "taken at the flood" is what "leads on to fortune." Where the "destiny" meaning sits beside fate and doom, this sense stands against them, with misfortune as its plain opposite.

4. 4
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The destiny awaiting a person, especially a favorable one.

   He felt that fortune had marked him for greatness from birth.

   The oracle spoke of a glorious fortune awaiting the young prince.

   Similarfate, destiny, lot, kismet, doom

   Note

   Here the word stays closest to its Latin parent, fortuna, "fate, luck". It means the lot laid out for a person, to be read in palms and faces. Abraham Cowley in 1647 addresses those "who men's fortunes in their faces read." Because the word leans favorable, the bad kind usually needs marking, as in ill-fortune, which Georgette Heyer still uses in 1959. Fate and doom are its close synonyms.

5. 5
   nouncountable

   A prediction about someone's future, as delivered by a fortune teller.

   The old woman told his fortune using a worn deck of cards.

   Tourists lined up to have their fortunes told at the boardwalk.

   Similarprediction, prophecy

6. 6
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The unexpected occurrence of something by chance or accident.

   Some odd fortune placed the missing key right where she could find it.

   By the fortune of the moment, the crowd parted and let them through.

   Similarluck, chance, accident, serendipity, hazard

   Note

   Chance with no thumb on the scale: simply what falls out, welcome or not. Its natural foil is merit, as in Shakespeare's line "'Tis more by fortune, lady, than by merit." Hap and luck are its synonyms. Unlike the "good luck" meaning, it makes no promise that the accident will be a happy one.

7. 7
   nouncountable

   A small printed slip bearing wise or loosely prophetic words, tucked inside a fortune cookie.

   After dinner, everyone compared the fortunes from their cookies.

   He taped the funniest fortune to his refrigerator door.

8. 8
   verbtransitive

   To tell someone's fortune; to foretell what awaits them.

   The traveling mystics would fortune anyone who crossed their palms with silver.

   An old seer claimed she could fortune a child at birth.

9. 9
   verbtransitive

   To provide someone with great wealth.

   The discovery of oil beneath the land would fortune the whole region.

   A wealthy patron fortuned the young artist for life.

   Similarenrich, endow

   Oppositeimpoverish, beggar

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