ETYM Latin fatum a prophetic declaration, oracle, what is ordained by the gods, destiny, fate, from fari to speak: cf. Old Fren. fat. Related to Fame, Fable, Ban, Fay, Fairy.
1. A fixed decree by which the order of things is prescribed; the immutable law of the universe; inevitable necessity; the force by which all existence is determined and conditioned.
2. Appointed lot; allotted life; arranged or predetermined event; destiny; especially, the final lot; doom; ruin; death.
3. The element of chance in the affairs of life; the unforeseen and unestimated conitions considered as a force shaping events; fortune; esp., opposing circumstances against which it is useless to struggle.
4. The three goddesses, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos (the Destinies, or Parcae) were believed to determine the course of human life. They are represented, one as holding the distaff, a second as spinning, and the third as cutting the thread.
A principle of what is ordained for human beings, which may also constrain gods in some mythologies. Fate is also described as the “destiny” of individuals or nations.
In classical mythology, the three Fates (and in Scandinavian mythology, the three Norns) wove and cut a thread of life for all mortals, and so fate is often associated with the timing and circumstances of an individual’s death. In Christian thought, divine providence may play a similar role, balanced by the idea of free will. In Islam kismet entails submission to Allah, whereas in Hindu belief karma, as the sum of an individual’s actions, determines an improved or worsened fate in the next life.
The related idea of fatalism entails submission to fate, as this is perceived either to affect individuals or wider social groups.

City in Texas (USA).

Destine; also; doom