destin

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dɛs.tɛ̃/^[1]

Forms

destin m (plural destins)^[1]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from French destiner.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} That verb is borrowed from Latin dēstinō (“to fix, make fast; to determine”), which until the 17th century also meant “to decide, plan” in French.^[5]

Compare Old Occitan desti, Spanish destino and Italian destino.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Benoît de Sainte-Maure (about 1160–65) uses it for a decision or plan: in the Roman de Troie senz nule autre hore de destin means “without taking time to decide”, at once.^[2][3][7]

Semantic evolution

In 1170 the same author uses it for the fortune of battle, victory or defeat, and by about 1200 the Châtelain de Coucy has it for fate, a person's lot: Et tel destin m'ont doné li felon.^[2][6] In Old French it could also mean “destination”, a sense Littré finds in Philippe Mousket.^[5][6]

In the classical language le destin and les destins became the supreme power believed to fix the course of events, personified in mythology, as in Corneille's Des arrêts du destin l'ordre est invariable.^[4][7] The noun destinée (12th century), formed on the same verb, shares much of its range.^[5][7]

Timeline

• c. 1160 – “Plan, decision”, Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^[3][7]
• 1170 – “Fortune, victory or defeat”, Benoît's Chronique des ducs de Normandie.^[2]
• c. 1200 – “Fate, one's lot”, the Châtelain de Coucy.^[2]
• 13th century – “Destination”, Philippe Mousket.^[6][5]
• 1694 – Recorded by the Académie.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. fate, destiny: the power believed to fix the course of events irrevocably, le Destin, its personification.^[7][4]
2. The course of a life, a person's lot or fortune: un destin tragique.^[7][1]
3. The future or outcome of a thing.^[7]

Related words

• destiner
• destinée
• destination
• destinataire

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert