fortuitous
[ fawr-too-i-tuhs, -tyoo- ]
/ fɔrˈtu ɪ təs, -ˈtyu- /
adjective
happening or produced by chance; accidental: a fortuitous encounter.
lucky; fortunate: a series of fortuitous events that advanced her career.
Origin of fortuitous
1645–55; < Latin
fortuitus, fortuītus, equivalent to
fortu- (u-stem base, otherwise unattested, akin to
fors, genitive
fortis chance, luck) +
-itus, -ītus adj. suffix (for formation cf.
gratuitous); see
-ous
synonym study for fortuitous
1. See
accidental.
usage note for fortuitous
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.
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.
OTHER WORDS FROM fortuitous
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH fortuitous
felicitous fortuitous fortunate (see usage note at the current entry)Words nearby fortuitous
fortnight,
fortnightly,
fortran,
fortress,
fortuitism,
fortuitous,
fortuity,
fortuna,
fortunate,
fortunately,
fortune
Example sentences from the Web for fortuitous
British Dictionary definitions for fortuitous
fortuitous
/ (fɔːˈtjuːɪtəs) /
adjective
happening by chance, esp by a lucky chance; unplanned; accidental
Derived forms of fortuitous
fortuitously, adverb fortuitousness, nounWord Origin for fortuitous
C17: from Latin
fortuitus happening by chance, from
forte by chance, from
fors chance, luck