fatalist (fatalist)

[= D. G. Dan. Sw. fa talist, Fatalists , such as hold the material nece ity of that is indeed the atheists. things without a Deity,. Cudworth . The third sort of fatalists do not deny the moral attributes of the Deity, in his nature e entially benevolent and just. I. D'Israeli, Amen. of Lit., II. 398. 2. One whose conduct is controlled by belief in fatalism; one who accepts all the events and conditions of life as proceeding from or leading to an inevitable fate: as, Orientals are naturally fatalists. Giovanni comes upon the scene a profe ed and daring infidel, and, like all other infidels, a fatalist. Gifford, Int. to Ford's Plays, p. xxx i. To the confidence which the heroic fatalist (William of ger. Orange placed in his high destiny and in his sacred cause is to be partly attributed his singular indifference to danMacaulay, Hist. Eng., vii. fatalistic (fa-ta-lis'tik), a. [ Would you have me believe that the events of this world are fastened to a revolving cycle, with God at one end and the Devil at the other, and that the Devil is now upper- most? Are you a Christian, and talk about a crisis in that fatalistic sense? Cole ridge , Table-Talk. Our acts our angels are, or good or ill, Our fatal shadows that walk by us still. Fletcher , Upon An Honest Man's Fortune. fatality (fa-tal'i-ti), n.; pl. fatalities (-tiz). [= Dost thou thirst, base Trojan, To have me fold up Parca's fatal web? Shak., Hen. V., v. 1. What is printed seems to every man invested with some fatal character of publicity such as cannot belong to mere MS. De Quincey, Style, iv. The objection will doubtle be raised that instinct is wholly destitute of the characteristic of intelligence in that it has no choice; its operation is fixed, fatal . G. H. Lewes, Probs. of Life and Mind, Int., I. ii. § 32. 3. Foreboding or a ociated with disaster or death; ominous. Bring forth that fatal screech-owl to our house, That nothing sung but death to us and ours. Shak ., 3 Hen, VI., ii. 6. 4. Causing or attended with death or destruction; deadly; mortal; destructive; disastrous; ruinous: as, a fatal accident. It was now the sixth Year of Queen Elizabeth's Reign, a Year fatal for the Death of many great Personages. Baker , Chronicles, p. 333. I will ever to the fatall day of my life honour the memorie of that incomparable man [Virgil]. Coryat, Crudities, I. 140. D. fat a lite it G. fatal ität = Dan. Sw. fatalitet, Think not to fasten thy imperfections on the stars, and so despairingly conceive thyself under a fatality of being evil. Sir T. Browne , Christ. Mor., iii. 7. There is a fatality , a feeling so irresistible and inevitable that it has the force of doom. Hawthorne , Scarlet Letter, v. There must have been a sort of grim fatality steering me, and neutralizing all reflections likely to hold me back. W. C. Ru ell , A Strange Voyage, ii. 3. Tendency to destruction or danger, or to some hazardous, critical, or fatal event; mortality; deadline . fatality Seven times nine, or the year sixty-three, is conceived to carry with it the most considerable fatality . Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err. The great plague of 1349 fell with especial fatality on Cyprus. Stubbs, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 191. 4. A fatal occurrence: as, nothing could avert the fatality. men. The Century, XXVI. 106. Throughout the whole army, the officers were far le apt to succumb to the fatalities of disease than were their fatally (fa'tal-i), adv . 1. By a decree of fate or destiny; by inevitable predetermination. All this Time King Richard lay at Nottingham, and was as it were fatally taken with a Spirit of Security, hearing that the Earl had but small A istance either from France or in England. Baker , Chronicles, p. 232. Yet shortly she unhappily, but fatally , Perish'd at sea. Middle ton , Spanish Gypsy, iii. 3. 2. In a manner leading to death or ruin; mortally; disastrously: as, the encounter ended fa tally; the prince was fatally deceived. Witne our too much memorable shame, When Cre y battle fatally was struck, And all our princes captiv'd. Shak ., Hen. V., ii. 4. In Italy itself, agriculture, with the habits of life that attended it, speedily and fatally decayed. Lecky, Europ. Morals, I. 282. IMG:content-1126.png:[ocr errors][merged small] With full force his deadly bow he bent, And feathered fates among the mules and sumpters sent. Dryden, 5. [ cap.] [L. Fatum, usually in pl. Fata; Gr. Μοῖρα, pl. Μοίραι.] In Gr. and Rom. myth., destiny: usually in the plural, the Destinies, godde es supposed to preside supposed to preside over the birth, life, and death of human beings. They were three in number, Clotho, Laches is, and Atropos. Also called, in Latin, Parcæ. Haple Ægeon, whom the fates have mark'd To bear the extremity of dire mishap! Shak., C. of E., i. 1. For thee the Fates , severely kind, ordain A cool suspense from pleasure and from pain. Pope , Eloisa to Abelard, 1. 249. =Syn. 1 and 2. Doom, etc. See destiny. fated (fa'ted), a. [ father