destiny English · revision 7024

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1325|origins=la destino}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈdɛs.tɪ.ni/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English destinee, [[bor|fro|destinee|t=purpose, intent, fate]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) the feminine past participle of [[m|fro|destiner]], from [[la|destinata]], from [[m|la|destino|alt=dēstināre|t=to make firm, establish]] (see [[destination]]).^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ What is destined to happen to a particular person or country: about 1325 in the OED;^(OED 1989) fate, overruling necessity, the mid-14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense is ''that which has been firmly established'', as by fate.^(Etymonline) The power believed to determine events is from about 1340,^(OED 1989) and in Greek and Roman mythology Destiny was personified as the three Fates.^(Etymonline) What is to befall a person in the future is from the mid-15th century.^(Etymonline) A weakened sense, what happens in the course of events, is from 1555.^(OED 1989) In Yorkshire and Kent dialect, destiny meant a destination.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1325 – a person's fate.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1340 – the power of fate.^(OED 1989)

+ * mid-15th century – what will befall someone.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1555 – the course of events.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The events that will necessarily happen to a person or thing in the future; [[fate]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The hidden power believed to control the future.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[manifest destiny]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[destination]]

+ * [[destine]]

+ * [[fate]]

+ * [[doom]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}