Edit page | Page history | Printable version

Destiny

Origin: oe. Destinee, destene, f. Destinee, from destiner. See destine.

1. That to which any person or thing is destined; predetermined state; condition foreordained by the divine or by human will; fate; lot; doom. Thither he Will come to know his destiny. (Shak) No man of woman born, Coward or brave, can shun his destiny. (Bryant)

2. The fixed order of things; invincible necessity; fate; a resistless power or agency conceived of as determining the future, whether in general or of an individual. But who can turn the stream of destiny? (Spenser) Fame comes only when deserved, and then is as inevitable as destiny, for it is destiny. (Longfellow) The destinies, the three Parcae, or Fates; the supposed powers which preside over human life, and determine its circumstances and duration. Marked by the destinies to be avoided. (Shak)