fortuitous

fortuitous
/fawr tooh"i teuhs, -tyooh"-/, adj.
1. happening or produced by chance; accidental: a fortuitous encounter.
2. lucky; fortunate: a series of fortuitous events that advanced her career.
[1645-55; < L fortuitus, fortuitus, equiv. to fortu- (u-stem base, otherwise unattested, akin to fors, gen. fortis chance, luck) + -itus, -itus adj. suffix (for formation cf. GRATUITOUS); see -OUS]
Syn. 1. incidental. See accidental.
Usage. FORTUITOUS has developed in sense from "happening by chance" to "happening by lucky chance" to simply "lucky, fortunate." This development was probably influenced by the similarity of FORTUITOUS to FORTUNATE and perhaps to FELICITOUS: A fortuitous late-night snowfall made for a day of great skiing.
Many object to the use of FORTUITOUS to mean simply "fortunate" and insist that it should be limited to its original sense of "accidental." In modern standard use, however, FORTUITOUS almost always carries the senses both of accident or chance and luck or fortune. It is infrequently used in its sense of "accidental" without the suggestion of good luck, and even less frequently in the sense "lucky" without at least a suggestion of accident or chance: A fortuitous encounter with a former schoolmate led to a new and successful career for the artist.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • fortuitous — fortuitous, fortuitously 1. The OED and all reputable dictionaries show fortuitous to be a word with only one meaning, ‘caused by chance, accidental’. Addison wrote in the Spectator in 1712 that the highest Degree of [wisdom] which Man can… …   Modern English usage

  • Fortuitous — For*tu i*tous, a. [L. fortuitus; akin to forte, adv., by chance, prop. abl. of fors, fortis, chance. See {Fortune}.] 1. Happening by chance; coming or occuring unexpectedly, or without any known cause; chance; as, the fortuitous concourse of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • fortuitous — I adjective accidental, adventitious, casual, chance, circumstantial, coincidental, designless, forte oblatus, fortuitus, haphazard, happening by chance, involuntary, lucky, occurring by chance, providential, random, spontaneous, surprise,… …   Law dictionary

  • fortuitous — 1650s, from L. fortuitus happening by chance, casual, accidental, from forte by chance, ablative of fors chance (related to fortuna; see FORTUNE (Cf. fortune)). It means accidental, undesigned not fortunate. Earlier in this sense was fortuit… …   Etymology dictionary

  • fortuitous — *accidental, contingent, casual, incidental, adventitious Analogous words: *random, haphazard, chance, chancy, hit or miss Contrasted words: activated, actuated, motivated (see ACTIVATE): planned, projected, designed, schemed, plotted (see… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • fortuitous — [adj] lucky, accidental arbitrary, casual, chance, contingent, fluke*, fluky*, fortunate, haphazard, happy, incidental, luck in*, luck out*, lucky dog*, odd, providential, random, serendipitous, unforeseen, unplanned; concepts 548,552 Ant.… …   New thesaurus

  • fortuitous — ► ADJECTIVE 1) happening by chance rather than design. 2) happening by a lucky chance; fortunate. DERIVATIVES fortuitously adverb fortuitousness noun fortuity noun (pl. fortuities) . ORIGIN Latin fortuitus, from forte …   English terms dictionary

  • fortuitous — [fôr to͞o′ə təs, fôrtyo͞o′ə təs] adj. [L fortuitus < forte, by chance < fors (gen. fortis), chance, luck < IE * bhr̥tis < base * bher , to bring > BEAR1] 1. happening by chance; accidental 2. bringing, or happening by, good luck;… …   English World dictionary

  • fortuitous — adjective 1) a fortuitous resemblance Syn: chance, adventitious, unexpected, unanticipated, unpredictable, unforeseen, unlooked for, serendipitous, casual, incidental, coincidental, random, accidental, inadvertent, unintentional, unintended …   Thesaurus of popular words

  • fortuitous — for•tu•i•tous [[t]fɔrˈtu ɪ təs, ˈtyu [/t]] adj. 1) happening or produced by chance; accidental: a fortuitous encounter[/ex] 2) lucky; fortunate • Etymology: 1645–55; < L fortuitus, akin to fors, gen. fortis chance, luck for•tu′i•tous•ly, adv.… …   From formal English to slang

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