Etymologically
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fortunate

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈfɔː.tʃən.ət/, US /ˈfɔːr.tʃən.ət/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin fortūnātus (“prospered, lucky, happy”),[2][3][4] past participle of fortūnāre, to make prosperous, from fortūna, luck (see fortune).[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Favoured by fortune, lucky: about 1386 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Bringing or foretelling good fortune, auspicious, is from about 1391.[5] The Fortunate Islands, the mythical home of the blessed in the western ocean, translate Latin Fortūnātae Insulae, from 1432–50,[5][2] earlier Ilondes of fortune.[2] As a noun, a fortunate person, especially a wealthy one, is from 1614.[5][6] A verb fortunate, to make fortunate, existed from about 1420.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 1386 – lucky.[5]
  • c. 1391 – auspicious.[5]
  • 1432–50 – the Fortunate Islands.[5]
  • 1614 – a fortunate person (noun).[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Having good luck; lucky.
  2. Bringing good fortune; auspicious.

Noun

  1. A person who has good fortune, especially a wealthy one.

Word family

  • fortunately
  • fortunateness
  • superfortunate
  • unfortunately

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin