Fortune telling

Fortune For"tune (f[^o]r"t[-u]n; 135), n. [F. fortune, L. fortuna; akin to fors, fortis, chance, prob. fr. ferre to bear, bring. See {Bear} to support, and cf. {Fortuitous}.] 1. The arrival of something in a sudden or unexpected manner; chance; accident; luck; hap; also, the personified or deified power regarded as determining human success, apportioning happiness and unhappiness, and distributing arbitrarily or fortuitously the lots of life. [1913 Webster]

'T is more by fortune, lady, than by merit. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

O Fortune, Fortune, all men call thee fickle. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

2. That which befalls or is to befall one; lot in life, or event in any particular undertaking; fate; destiny; as, to tell one's fortune. [1913 Webster]

You, who men's fortunes in their faces read. --Cowley. [1913 Webster]

3. That which comes as the result of an undertaking or of a course of action; good or ill success; especially, favorable issue; happy event; success; prosperity as reached partly by chance and partly by effort. [1913 Webster]

Our equal crimes shall equal fortune give. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]

There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

His father dying, he was driven to seek his fortune. --Swift. [1913 Webster]

4. Wealth; large possessions; large estate; riches; as, a gentleman of fortune.

Syn: Chance; accident; luck; fate. [1913 Webster]

{Fortune book}, a book supposed to reveal future events to those who consult it. --Crashaw.

{Fortune hunter}, one who seeks to acquire wealth by marriage.

{Fortune teller}, one who professes to tell future events in the life of another.

{Fortune telling}, the practice or art of professing to reveal future events in the life of another. [1913 Webster]