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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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
fortune telling
n : the art or gift of prophecy (or the pretense of prophecy) by
supernatural means [syn: divination, foretelling, soothsaying]
WordNet (r) 2.0
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