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. [ 1913 Webster ] 'T is more by fortune, lady, than by merit. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] O Fortune, Fortune, all men call thee fickle. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ] You, who men's fortunes in their faces read. Cowley. [ 1913 Webster ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ] Our equal crimes shall equal fortune give. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ] There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] His father dying, he was driven to seek his fortune. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ] 4. Wealth; large possessions; large estate; riches; as, a gentleman of fortune. Syn. -- Chance; accident; luck; fate. [ 1913 Webster ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ]
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