Origin: Germanic Old English prefix
Fortune has 6 different meanings across 1 category:
a large amount of wealth or prosperity
"After years of hard work, she finally built a fortune through her successful tech startup."
Destiny, especially favorable.
"After years of struggling, she finally met her fortune when a long-lost relative left her an inheritance."
In plain English: Fortune means a large amount of money or good luck that someone has.
"The lottery winner decided to use her fortune to start a new school in the village."
Usage: Use "fortune" to describe a large amount of money or wealth rather than destiny. When referring to fate, use words like "fate" or "destiny" instead.
To happen, take place.
"The surprise party didn't go as planned because it was a complete disaster to happen at that moment."
In plain English: To fortune something means to give it a lot of money or make it very wealthy.
"The lottery winner decided to fortune her investments wisely before spending any money."
Usage: Fortune as a verb meaning to happen or take place is archaic and rarely used in modern English; instead, use standard verbs like occur, happen, or transpire. You will almost never encounter this usage in contemporary conversation or writing.
The word "fortune" comes from the Latin fortuna, which originally meant "fate" or "luck." Its sense of "riches" developed later, likely influenced by the Latin plural form fortunae, which referred to one's possessions.