Webster's English Dictionary

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fate

1. fate \'fa-t\ n [ME, fr. MF or L; MF, fr. L fatum, lit., what has been 
   spoken, fr. neut.]of fatus, pp. of fari to speak 1: the principle or 
   determining cause or will by which things in general ar e supposed to come 
   to be as they are or events to happen as they do : DESTINY 2a: whatever is 
   destined or decreed  2b: DISASTER; esp : DEATH  3: final outcome  cap, pl  
   4: the three goddesses of classical mythology who determine the course of h 
   uman life a predetermined state or end. FATE implies an inevitable and usu. 
   an adverse outcome, condition, or end; DESTINY implies something 
   foreordained and inescapable but rarely suggests of itself something to be 
   feared; it more often suggests a great or noble course or end; LOT and 
   PORTION imply a distribution by fate or destiny, LOT suggesting blind 
   chance, PORTION implying the apportioning of good and evil; DOOM distinctly 
   implies a grim or calamitous fate SYN syn FATE, DESTINY, LOT, PORTION, DOOM 
   mean 
2. fate vt : DESTINE; also : DOOM