fortune

UK: /ˈfɔː^rtʃuːn/ US: /ˈfɔrtʃən/ ,(fôr′chən)

Inflections of 'fortune' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

fortunes

v 3rd person singular

fortuning

v pres p

fortuned

v past

fortuned

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

for•tune /ˈfɔrtʃən/   n. 

1. wealth;
   riches:
   [countable] inherited a fortune.
2. chance;
   luck:
   [uncountable] They had the bad fortune to go bankrupt.
3. fortunes, [plural] varied occurrences of a person's life:
   a reversal of fortunes.
4. [countable] fate;
   destiny;
   future.

See -fortun-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

for•tune  (fôr′chən), n., v., -tuned, -tun•ing. 
n. 

1. position in life as determined by wealth:
   to make one's fortune.
2. wealth or riches:
   to lose a small fortune in bad investments.
3. great wealth;
   ample stock of money, property, and the like:
   to be worth a fortune.
4. chance;
   luck:
   They each had the bad fortune to marry the wrong person.
5. fortunes. things that happen or are to happen to a person in his or her life.
6. fate;
   lot;
   destiny:
   whatever my fortune may be.
7. Mythology (cap.) chance personified, commonly regarded as a mythical being distributing arbitrarily or capriciously the lots of life:
   Perhaps Fortune will smile on our venture.
8. good luck;
   success;
   prosperity:
   a family blessed by fortune.
9. [Archaic.] a wealthy woman;
   an heiress.
10. Idioms tell someone's fortune, to profess to inform someone of future events in his or her own life;
    foretell.

v.t. 

11. [Archaic.] to endow (someone or something) with a fortune.

v.i. 

12. [Archaic.] to chance or happen;
    come by chance.

• Latin fortūna chance, luck, fortune, derivative of fort- (stem of fors) chance
• Old French
• Middle English 1250–1300

for′tune•less, adj. 
Synonyms

• 4. fate, destiny, providence; kismet, karma.
• 7. Moira; Lady Luck.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

fortune / ˈfɔːtʃən/ noun

1. an amount of wealth or material prosperity, esp, when unqualified; a great amount
2. small fortune ⇒ a large sum of money
3. a power or force, often personalized, regarded as being responsible for human affairs; chance
4. luck, esp when favourable
5. (often plural) a person's lot or destiny

verb

1. (intransitive) to happen by chance

Etymology: 13th Century: from Old French, from Latin fortūna, from fors chance