DESTINE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does destine mean? 

• DESTINE (verb)
  The verb DESTINE has 2 senses:

1. decree or designate beforehand

2. design or destine

  Familiarity information: DESTINE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DESTINE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they destine    ... he / she / it destines   
Past simple: destined   
Past participle: destined   
-ing form: destining   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Decree or designate beforehand

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

designate; destine; doom; fate

Context example:

She was destined to become a great pianist

Hypernyms (to "destine" is one way to...):

ordain (issue an order)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Derivation:

destination (the ultimate goal for which something is done)

destination (the place designated as the end (as of a race or journey))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Design or destine

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

designate; destine; intend; specify

Context example:

She was intended to become the director

Hypernyms (to "destine" is one way to...):

plan (make plans for something)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "destine"):

mean (destine or designate for a certain purpose)

design (plan something for a specific role or purpose or effect)

slate (designate or schedule)

aim; calculate; direct (specifically design a product, event, or activity for a certain public)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Derivation:

destination (the ultimate goal for which something is done)

 Context examples 

When younger, said he, I believed myself destined for some great enterprise.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

We were very happy; and that evening, as the last of its race, and destined evermore to close that volume of my life, will never pass out of my memory.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Of this litter but one remained alive when White Fang came upon the scene, and this one was not destined to live long.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Vain indeed must be all her attentions, vain and useless her affection for his sister and her praise of himself, if he were already self-destined for another.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

It was the last that I was ever destined to see of him in this world.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A stamp started it on its travels, but it was destined to receive many stamps and to be started on many travels in the months that followed.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Refers to the state of being mortal (destined to die).

(Mortality, NCI Dictionary)

Once more, however, my friend was destined to be disappointed.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Derived from epithelial cells and destined to become a part of the muscular system; having the characteristics of both muscle and epithelium.

(Myoepithelial, NCI Thesaurus)

But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not destined to fall into the hands of justice.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)