fortuito

Forms

fortuītō (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin fortuītus (“happening by chance”) + -ō, an adverb from the adjective.^[2][3] De Vaan explains fortuītus from a u-stem Proto-Italic *fortu- (“luck”) beside the noun fors (“chance”), and says the origin of the ending ⟨-ītus⟩, as in grātuītus, is unclear.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler finds it first in Cicero,^[3] who in his Timaeus says an animal moves, but without measure and at random.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It means by mere chance, without design, and also haphazardly: Vitruvius has walls that settle unevenly, Columella a task not to be done at random, and Tacitus marked twigs scattered at random.^[2] Döderlein distinguishes it from cāsū “by accident” and forte “as it happened”: fortuītō stresses mere chance, as against a cause.^[5] A variant fortuītū is also found.^[6][7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of random movement.^[2][3]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius, of walls settling haphazardly.^[2][3]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of twigs scattered at random.^[2][3]

Meanings

Adverb

1. By mere chance, accidentally, without design.^[2][1][7][5]
2. Without fixed order, haphazardly, at random.^[2]

Related words

• fors
• forte
• fortuītus
• fortūna

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson