| 释义 |
▪ I. fate, n.|feɪt|
[ad. L. fātum, lit. ‘that which has been spoken’, neut. pa. pple. of fārī to speak. The primary sense of the L. word is a sentence or doom of the gods (= Gr. θέσϕατον); but it was subsequently used as the equivalent of the Gr. µοῖρα, which, originally meaning only a person's ‘lot’ or ‘portion’, had come to express the more abstract conception explained below (sense 1), and its personification as a mythological being.
Cf. OF. fat(e, Pr. fat, It. fato, Pg. fado, Sp. hado. (The pl. fāta gave rise in popular L. to the fem. sing. fāta fairy: for the Rom. forms of this see fay n.) The immediate source of the Eng. word is doubtful. Chaucer uses it in Troylus (where he translates from Boccaccio's Italian), but in rendering the Latin of Boethius he uses only destiné.]
1. a. The principle, power, or agency by which, according to certain philosophical and popular systems of belief, all events, or some events in particular, are unalterably predetermined from eternity. Often personified.
The OE. synonym was wyrd: see weird.
c1374Chaucer Troylus v. 1550 The fate wold his soule shold vnbodye. 1610Shakes. Temp. i. i. 32 Stand fast good Fate to his hanging. 1655–60Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 191/1 Concerning Fate, Plato held thus: All things are in Fate, yet all things are not decreed by Fate. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 232 When everlasting Fate shall yield To fickle Chance. 1678Cudworth Intell. Syst. 161 Fate, and the Laws or Commands of the Deity, concerning the Mundane Oeconomy..being really the same thing. 1701Rowe Amb. Step-Moth. i. i, Fate, Or somewhat like the force of Fate was in it. 1770J. Love Cricket 24 Jove, and all-compelling Fate. 1777Priestley Philos. Necess. Pref. 25 Fate was some⁓thing that even the gods often endeavoured..to resist. 1807Crabbe Par. Reg. i. 106 We..Fate's fixed will from Nature's wanderings learn. a1848R. W. Hamilton Rew. & Punishm. viii. (1853) 345 The idea of fate sets us free from the sense of blame. 1875Farrar Silence & V. i. 11 What is He but a vast formless Fate?
b. fig.
1588Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 68 So pertaunt like would I o'resway his state That he shold be my foole, and I his fate. 1701Rowe Amb. Step-Moth. iv. i, I am Fate in Persia And Life and Death depend upon my Pleasure.
2. Mythol.
a. The goddess of fate or destiny; in Homer Μοῖρα.
b. pl. In later Greek and Roman mythology, the three goddesses supposed to determine the course of human life (Gr. Μοῖραι, L. Parcæ, Fata).
In Gr. the three Fates are called Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos; these names were adopted by Latin poets, but the mythologists give as native names Nona, Decuma, and Morta.
1590Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 199 Pir... Like Limander am I trusty still. This. And [I] like Helen till the Fates me kill. 1709Pope Jan. & May 193 Bless the kind fates, and think your fortune rare. 1794Sullivan View Nat. V. 338 Thread, which is spun by the fates in one part uniform and strong, in another weakened. 1828Scott F.M. Perth xxx, Your slightest desires seem a law to the Fates. 1847Tennyson Princ. ii. 443 We three Sat muffled like the Fates.
3. That which is destined or fated to happen.
a. gen. Also in pl. Predestined events. as sure as fate: see sure adv. 4 a.
1667Milton P.L. vii. 173 What I will is Fate. So spake th' Almightie. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 738 Th' inspected Entrails cou'd no Fates foretel. 1732Pope Ess. Man i. 73 Heav'n from all creatures hides the book of fate. 1849James Woodman vii, Tis the best way of meeting fate. 1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xvi. i, There lay in the fates a Third Silesian War for him.
b. Of an individual, an empire, etc.: The predestined or appointed lot; what a person, etc. is fated to do or suffer.
c1374Chaucer Troylus v. 209 He curseth..His byrthe, hym self, his fate, and ek nature. 1559Mirr. Mag., Dk. of Clarence lv, To flye theyr fate. 1603B. Jonson Sejanus i. ii, How blest a fate were it to us. 1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. ii. (1843) 57/2 By a very extraordinary fate [he had] got a very particular interest..in many worthy men. 1668Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 10 Mr. Ho..deserves a better fate. a1717Bp. O. Blackall Wks. (1723) I. 25 It has been commonly their Fate to fare hardlier. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 164 The general fate of sects is to obtain a high reputation for sanctity while they are oppressed. 1848W. H. Bartlett Egypt to Pal. iv. (1879) 68 A noteworthy comment on the fate of human pride.
c. In etymological sense: An oracle or portent of doom.
1850Mrs. Browning Poems II. 50 The solemn knell fell in with the tale of life and sin, Like a rhythmic fate sublime.
4. a. What will become of, or has become of (a person or thing); ultimate condition; destiny. Often in to decide, fix, seal one's fate. a fate worse than death: see death n. 17 b.
1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) I. 584 The lover waits for the decision of his mistress to fix his fate. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §322 Anxiety for the fate of the Edystone. 1797Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xii, If she is now discovered her fate is certain. 1838Lytton Leila i. ii, The base misers..deserve their fate. 1841Elphinstone Hist. Ind. II. 581 It only remained to the brothers to decide on the fate of its tenant. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. ii. 163 He was obliged to bear the..fate of a minister, who..had thwarted the popular will. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. III. xc. 246 More of it may share the same fate. 1891E. Peacock N. Brendon II. 142 Plumer's fate was sealed.
b. Death, destruction, ruin.
c1430Lydg. Bochas iii. xxvi. (1554) 97 b, Cirus was passed into fate. 1635Shirley Coronat. iv, Will you assist, and run a fate with us. 1643Denham Cooper's H. 114 In the Common Fate, The adjoyning Abby fell. 1701Rowe Amb. Step-Moth. i. i, Thousand vulgar fates Which their Drugs daily hasten. 1852C. M. Yonge Cameos I. xl. 345 Their fate has been well sung by Lord Houghton.
c. An instrument of death or destruction. poet.
1700Dryden Iliad i. 74 He..Feather'd Fates among the Mules and Sumpters sent. 1715–20Pope Iliad i. 68 Hissing fly the feather'd fates.
5. attrib. and Comb.
a. simple attrib., as fate-spell; also fate-like adj.;
b. objective, as fate-denouncing, fate-foretelling, fate-scorning ppl. adjs.;
c. instrumental, as fate-environed, fate-fenced (implied in fate-fencedness), fate-folden, fate-furrowed, fate-menanced, fate-stricken adjs.
1708Ozell tr. Boileau's Lutrin 48 The Bird of Night With *Fate-denouncing Outcries takes his Flight.
1835Talfourd Ion ii. i, Why should I waste these *fate-environ'd hours.
1827Hare Guesses (1859) 80 His own *fate-fencedness, or, as he would call it, his luck.
1880W. Watson Prince's Quest (1892) 93 An enchanted sea From all the world *fate-folden.
1777Potter æschylus 173 The *fate-foretelling seer, Amphiaraus.
1804J. Grahame Sabbath 329 Relentless Justice! with *fate-furrow'd brow!
1860O. W. Holmes Elsie V. xv, The expression of the creatures [rattlesnakes] was..*fate-like.
1834F. Wrangham Homerics 7 Knew'st thou what misfortunes lie, *Fate-menaced, on thine homeward way.
1850Mrs. Browning Poems II. 282 Proud Œdipus, *fate-scorning.
a1618Sylvester Sonnets iv, Vnder that *Fate-spell onely are fore⁓showne Eternall praises.
1866Swinburne Poems & Ballads (1868) 172 Our greatest from his throne *Fate-stricken, and rejected of his own.
d. fate-line Palmistry, a line in the palm of the hand supposed to indicate a person's fate in worldly affairs.
1889K. St. Hill Gram. Palmistry ii. 43 When the Fate Line is tortuous..it is a sign of misfortune, or bad character. 1945E. Bowen Demon Lover 103 Dirt engraved the fate-lines in Mary's palms.
▪ II. fate, v.|feɪt|
[f. prec. n.]
†1. trans. To ruin irrevocably. Obs.
c1400Destr. Troy 5091 A fame [may] be defoulede, & fatid for euer.
2. To preordain as by the decree of fate. Const. to and to with inf. Obs. exc. in pass. in sense: To be appointed or destined by fate. Often quasi-impers. with subject clause.
1601Shakes. All's Well iv. iv. 20 Heauen..hath fated her to be my..helper to a husband. 1610― Temp. i. ii. 129 A treacherous Armie leuied, one mid-night Fated to th' purpose. 1725Pope Odyss. iv. 248 Fated to wander. 1828D'Israeli Chas. I, I. i. 4 It was fated that England should be the theatre of the first of a series of Revolutions. 1860Emerson Cond. Life, Fate Wks. (Bohn) II. 310 Whatever is fated, that will take place. 1867M. E. Herbert Cradle L. v. 152 The breathing-time..was fated to be of short duration.
†b. ellipt. To destine to death. Obs.
1788Cowper Stanzas for 1788. 18 Could I prophetic say Who next is fated.
▪ III. fate
obs. form of fat v., feat. |