fortune

for|tune

W3S3 [ˈfo:tʃən US ˈfo:r-] n

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1¦(money)¦

2¦(chance)¦

3¦(what happens to you)¦

4 tell somebody's fortune

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[Date: 1200-1300; : French; Origin: Latin fortuna]

1.) ¦(MONEY)¦

a very large amount of money

▪ He made a fortune selling property in Spain.

▪ My first painting sold for £25, a small fortune then for an art student.

▪ Bill Traylor died in poverty in 1947, but his art is worth a fortune .

▪ The carpet must have cost a fortune .

▪ It is quite easy to decorate your house without spending a fortune .

▪ Her personal fortune was recently estimated at £37 million.

2.) ¦(CHANCE)¦[U]

chance or luck, and the effect that it has on your life

▪ I had the good fortune to work with a brilliant head of department.

▪ Sickness or ill fortune could reduce you to a needy situation.

▪ I felt it was useless to struggle against fortune.

3.) ¦(WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU)¦ [C usually plural]

the good or bad things that happen in life

▪ a downturn in the company's fortunes

▪ This defeat marked a change in the team's fortunes.

▪ The geographical position of the frontier fluctuated with the fortunes of war (=the things that can happen during a war) .

4.) tell sb's fortune

to tell someone what will happen to them in the future by looking at their hands, using cards etc

→↑soldier of fortune,fame and fortune at ↑fame,a hostage to fortune at ↑hostage, seek your fortune at ↑seek