fortune

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fɔʁ.tyn/^[1]

Forms

fortune f (plural fortunes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin fortūna (“chance, fate; luck; condition”), in the plural “goods, wealth”, the name of the goddess of chance, derived from fors (“chance”).^[2][3][4] Cognate with Italian fortuna, Occitan fortuna, Catalan fortuna, Spanish fortuna, Portuguese fortuna and Romanian furtună (“storm”).^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Roman d'Énéas (about 1130–1160) uses it for the power thought to hand out good and bad luck, and for its allegorical figure.^[2][3][7]

Semantic evolution

Brunetto Latini (1265) uses it for chance, and Fortune's wheel turns in Berte and in Brunetto, who says she is blind.^[2][8] From about 1360 came bonne and mauvaise fortune;^[3][7] dire la bonne fortune, to tell fortunes (1636), has gone, but dîner à la fortune du pot, to take potluck, is recorded in 1762, and avoir de bonnes fortunes, success with women, before 1648.^[3][7] The sense “misfortune” goes back to popular Latin; in French it took the special sense “storm at sea” in the 13th century, as in Old Provençal fortuna de ven, whence fortune de mer and voile de fortune (1678).^[3][9][6] Faire contre mauvaise fortune bon cœur dates from 1678.^[3] The sense “wealth” comes from fortune d'or (1270), gold found by chance, and is general from the 15th century (Montaigne, 1580).^[2][9] De fortune, “makeshift”, is a 20th-century use.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1130 – The power of chance, in Énéas.^[2][3]
• 1265 – “Chance”, in Brunetto Latini.^[2]
• 1270 – Fortune d'or, gold found by chance.^[2]
• Early 15th century – “Misfortune”.^[2][3]
• 1580 – “Wealth”, in Montaigne.^[2]
• 1678 – Faire contre mauvaise fortune bon cœur, voile de fortune.^[3][7]
• 1762 – À la fortune du pot.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) The power thought to deal out good and bad luck; fate: la fortune sourit aux audacieux.^[5][10]
2. (mythology) The goddess Fortune, shown blindfold on a wheel: la roue de la Fortune.^[5][2]
3. Luck, good or bad: bonne, mauvaise fortune, faire contre mauvaise fortune bon cœur.^[3][5]
4. The fate or success of something: la fortune d'une pièce de théâtre.^[10]
5. Wealth, all of a person's possessions: la fortune nationale; a very rich person: les plus grandes fortunes.^[10][5]
6. De fortune: makeshift, à la fortune du pot: without ceremony.^[7][3]
7. (nautical) Fortune de mer: an accident at sea, voile de fortune: a jury sail.^[3][7]

Word family

• fortuné
• infortune
• infortuné

Related words

• fortuit
• Latin fortūna
• English fortune

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)