FATE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does fate mean? 

• FATE (noun)
  The noun FATE has 3 senses:

1. an event (or a course of events) that will inevitably happen in the future

2. the ultimate agency regarded as predetermining the course of events (often personified as a woman)

3. your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you)

  Familiarity information: FATE used as a noun is uncommon.

• FATE (verb)
  The verb FATE has 1 sense:

1. decree or designate beforehand

  Familiarity information: FATE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FATE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An event (or a course of events) that will inevitably happen in the future

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

destiny; fate

Hypernyms ("fate" is a kind of...):

happening; natural event; occurrence; occurrent (an event that happens)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fate"):

inevitable (an unavoidable event)

karma ((Hinduism and Buddhism) the effects of a person's actions that determine his destiny in his next incarnation)

kismat; kismet ((Islam) the will of Allah)

predestination (previous determination as if by destiny or fate)

day of reckoning; doom; doomsday; end of the world (an unpleasant or disastrous destiny)

Derivation:

fate (decree or designate beforehand)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The ultimate agency regarded as predetermining the course of events (often personified as a woman)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

destiny; fate

Context example:

we are helpless in the face of destiny

Hypernyms ("fate" is a kind of...):

causal agency; causal agent; cause (any entity that produces an effect or is responsible for events or results)

Holonyms ("fate" is a part of...):

occult; supernatural (supernatural forces and events and beings collectively)

Derivation:

fate (decree or designate beforehand)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

circumstances; destiny; fate; fortune; lot; luck; portion

Context example:

success that was her portion

Hypernyms ("fate" is a kind of...):

condition (a mode of being or form of existence of a person or thing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fate"):

good fortune; good luck; luckiness (an auspicious state resulting from favorable outcomes)

providence (a manifestation of God's foresightful care for his creatures)

bad luck; ill luck; misfortune; tough luck (an unfortunate state resulting from unfavorable outcomes)

failure (lack of success)

• FATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they fate    ... he / she / it fates   
Past simple: fated   
Past participle: fated   
-ing form: fating   

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 "fate" is one way to...):

ordain (issue an order)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Derivation:

fate (an event (or a course of events) that will inevitably happen in the future)

fate (the ultimate agency regarded as predetermining the course of events (often personified as a woman))

 Context examples 

PGH2 also has several possible fates, including conversion by thromboxane synthase to Tpx2, an eicosanoid with potent coagulation and vasoconstriction activity.

(Eicosanoid Metabolism Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Nothing had come of her zealous intervention; nor could I infer, from what he told me, that any clue had been obtained, for a moment, to Emily's fate.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

This allele, which encodes delta-like protein 1, plays a role in notch signaling during hematopoietic cell fate determination.

(DLL1 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

The neuregulins comprise a subfamily of at least four epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like growth factors that influence a variety of cellular events, including proliferation, differentiation, migration, survival, and fate.

(ErbB3 Receptor Recycling Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

In muscle, there is no enzyme present that converts glucose 1-phosphate to glucose, so the only fate of this glucose 1-phosphate is to enter glycolysis after being converted glucose 6-phosphate.

(Feeder Pathways for Glycolysis, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Deltex Homolog 1 may also actively promote B cell fate in common lymphoid progenitors.

(Deltex Homolog 1, NCI Thesaurus)

This he afterwards explained by saying that to a boyar the pride of his house and name is his own pride, that their glory is his glory, that their fate is his fate.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

It was a strength I had not possessed a few months before, on the day I said good-bye to Charley Furuseth and started for San Francisco on the ill-fated Martinez.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

This allele, which encodes macrophage colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor precursor (CSF-1-R) protein, is involved in the production, differentiation, and function of macrophages and signal transduction that regulates cell fate.

(CSF1R wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

This protein is involved in cell fate decisions during hematopoiesis.

(Delta-Like Protein 1, NCI Thesaurus)