Destiny Meaning
/ˈdɛs.tɪ.ni/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThat to which any person or thing is destined; a predetermined state; a condition predestined by the Divine or by human will.
nounThat which is inevitable in the fullness of time.
Sentence Examples
You are the master of your own destiny.
No one can be more wise than destiny.
CEFR Practice Quiz
She believed it was her ____ to become the first astronaut from her country.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
You are the master of your own ____.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English destine et al., from Old French destinee, from Latin dēstinō (English destine). Displaced Old English wyrd.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Her death (April 18, 1881) left the Empress Ts‘ŭ Hsi, the playmate of her youth, the sole Regent of China, with the destiny of four hundred millions of human beings in her hands."
— 1914, Li Ung Bing, “The Second Joint Regency of the Empress”, in Joseph Whiteside, editor, Outlines of Chinese History, Shanghai: The Commercial Press, →OCLC, page 565:
"Ain't no use to fight it / Don't tamper with my destiny / Any way you slice it / I'm in the hands of fate, you see"
— 1977, The Originals (group), “Been Decided”, in Down to Love Town:
"Everywhere the atom bombs are dropping / It's the end of all humanity / No more time for last-minute shopping / It's time to face your final destiny"
— 1986, "Weird Al" Yankovic, “Christmas at Ground Zero”, in Polka Party!:
"Suspended between two ancient trees in some woody wonderland, the nearby brook babblingly bubbling to itself, the gently cooling breezes sweeping away all things bothersome, we self-sway each other to our own rhythms, and all our manifest destinies are ahhhsome."
— 2016 June 27, Bernard Louis De Koven, “Hammocky Dreams”, in A Playful Path:
"There were two kinds of beardom opposed here, two futures, two destinies."
— 1995, Philip Pullman, Northern Lights:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She believed it was her ____ to become the first astronaut from her country.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
You are the master of your own ____.