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fortunatus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word fortunatus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 235–200 BC, Naevius
Ultimate origin
Latin (fors)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin fortunatus
English fortunate
English unfortunate

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [fɔr.tuːˈnaː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [for.tuˈnaː.tus][1]

Forms

fortūnātus (feminine fortūnāta, neuter fortūnātum, comparative fortūnātior, superlative fortūnātissimus, adverb fortūnātē); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is the participle of fortūnō (“to make prosperous”), from fortūna (“fortune”).[2][1][3] De Vaan explains ⟨fortūna⟩ from a stem ⟨*fortu-⟩ “luck” beside fors (“chance”), from Proto-Italic *forti- (“luck”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰr̥-ti- (“bearing”) of the family of ferō (“to carry”), though the shift from “bearing” to “luck” is not obvious and Ernout and Meillet reject the link.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Naevius;[4][5] in Plautus' Aulularia a man wishes another to be always “safe and fortunate”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is attended by good fortune, lucky or successful, of people and of things, as Plautus' prayer that the household god make a daughter's wedding fortunate.[2][3] It is also wealthy, as Plautus' “you'll not be a scrap richer from this today”.[2] Of gods and the dead it is blessed or happy, and the fortūnātae or fortūnātōrum īnsulae are the mythical islands in the far west where the blessed live, already in Plautus.[2]

It is also a cognomen, held by the Merovingian poet Venantius Fortunatus.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius.[4][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of the fortunate and the Isles of the Blessed.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Fortunate, lucky, successful.[2][3][1]
  2. Wealthy, rich.[2][1]
  3. (of gods and the dead) Blessed, happy;[2][1] fortūnātae īnsulae, the Isles of the Blessed.[2]

Usage notes

Döderlein treats fēlīx as the most general word for happiness, which can mean both making and being happy.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c 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 c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Fortunatus.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/fortunatus. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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