fortuna

Forms

fortuna f (plural fortune, pejorative fortunaccia)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin fortūna (“chance, fate; good luck; wealth”), derived from fors (“chance”).^[2][3][4][1] DEI and the GDLI see the learned tradition of the word, while Nocentini notes that French fortune and the Iberian forms are learned and that only the sense “storm” lived on in popular speech, as in Occitan fortuna (“storm”).^[5][6][3]

The Latin noun is the feminine of an unrecorded adjective, from a stem Proto-Italic *fortu- (“luck”) beside fors.^[7][1][8] Both are usually traced to Latin ferō (“to carry, bear”) and the root Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry”), but de Vaan notes that the shift of meaning from “carrying” to “chance” is not obvious, and Ernout and Meillet reject the connection.^[7][1][3]

The sense “storm” goes back to the phrase Medieval Latin fortuna maris (“fortune of the sea”) and is a sailors' euphemism, avoiding the word for a storm.^[2][3] Venetian and Genoese trade spread it in this sense to the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean: Modern Greek φουρτούνα (fourtoúna, “storm”) and Turkish fırtına (“storm”) come from it.^[9][5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is Giacomo da Lentini (1230–1250), who already uses fortuna for a storm at sea.^[10][2] DELI's first record of the sense “destiny, good or bad” is Pier della Vigna, before 1249: Fortuna è corrucciata (“Fortune is angry”).^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Dante used the word for good luck and for wealth, and in the Inferno made Fortune an angelic spirit that distributes earthly goods.^[2][10] The derivatives fortunato (Dante), fortunoso (Boccaccio) and fortunale, a violent storm (14th century), all date from this period.^[2][3]

The modern senses add “success” (la fortuna di un romanzo) and a large sum of money (costare una fortuna).^[4][11] The phrase mezzi di fortuna, makeshift means, arose in the shortages of the Second World War;^[2] Migliorini took fortuna there in the old sense “chance”, while Monelli thought of sailors' expressions such as albero di fortuna, a jury mast.^[2] The sense “storm” was borrowed into French in the 13th century and into German from 1436.^[12]

Timeline

• 1230–1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses fortuna for a storm.^[10][2]
• Before 1249 – Pier della Vigna uses it for fate.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it for good luck and for wealth.^[2]
• About 1336 – Boccaccio uses fortunoso.^[2]
• 14th century – Fortunale appears in the Tavola ritonda.^[2]
• 1436 – German fortun is recorded in the sense “storm”.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. fate, chance, the force that rules events, personified by the ancients as a goddess: Non si può sempre dare la colpa alla fortuna.^[4][11][13]
2. Good luck; a lucky chance: Che fortuna trovarti qui!^[4][13][14]
3. Success, popularity: Quel disco non ha avuto molta fortuna.^[4][11][14]
4. A fortune, a large amount of wealth: Quella villa vale una fortuna.^[4][13][14]
5. (literary) Economic or social condition.^[4][14]
6. (literary) A storm at sea: come nave in fortuna (Dante).^[4][13]
7. (nautical) An accident at sea caused by force majeure.^[4]
8. In the tarot, the Wheel of Fortune.^[4]
9. (zoology) The house centipede Scutigera coleoptrata.^[4][15]

Word family

• fortunato
• fortunale
• fortunoso
• sfortuna
• sfortunato
• fortunello
• portafortuna
• infortunio

Related words

• fortuito
• forse
• Latin fors

Usage notes

Common phrases are per fortuna (“luckily”), buona fortuna! (“good luck!”), fare fortuna (“to get rich”), tentare la fortuna and di fortuna (“makeshift”).^[4][14][11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1695
6. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 225
7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
13. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca