Link Centre Dictionary

fortuitous

for·tui·tous

UK/fɔːˈtjuːɪtəs/ US/-ˈt͡ʃuː-/ rare

adjective

1.

having no cause or apparent cause

  • “a causeless miracle”
  • “fortuitous encounters--strange accidents of fortune”
  • “we cannot regard artistic invention as...uncaused and unrelated to the times”
Synonyms
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2.

occurring by happy chance

  • “profits were enhanced by a fortuitous drop in the cost of raw materials”
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Origin

Learned borrowing from Latin fortuītus (“happening by chance, accidental, random, fortuitous”), from *fortu- (“chance, fortune, luck”) + -ītus (suffix forming adjectives). *Fortu- is thought to be from *fortus, from fors (“chance, luck”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bear, carry”)) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns). Doublet of fortuity.

Related words

Word family

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.