fortuitement

Fortuitement is an adverb in French meaning by chance or fortuitously. It describes events that occur without intention or planning, due to luck or accident rather than deliberate action. The term tends to be formal or literary in tone, and it is used to convey that something happened unexpectedly rather than as a result of an agent’s planning.

Etymology and form: Fortuitement comes from the adjective fortuit, which derives from Latin fortuitus meaning happening by chance, from fors meaning chance or luck. The adverb is formed with the standard French suffix -ment, yielding fortuitement to denote the manner of an action.

Usage and examples: Fortuitement modifies verbs and phrases that describe how something occurs. Examples include: « Ils se sont rencontrés fortuitement » (they met by chance), « La découverte fut fortuite » (the discovery was accidental or unplanned). It is used to signal that outcomes were not intended or foreseen, rather than to celebrate luck.

Nuance and alternatives: In everyday speech, par hasard is often used as a more common equivalent for “by chance.” Fortuitement carries a slightly more formal or literary nuance and emphasizes the element of accident or lack of planning, rather than mere coincidence. The related adjective fortuit describes the event or occurrence as incidental rather than intentional.

See also: hasard, fortuit. Fontaine: For comparisons with similar expressions in other languages, terms for chance or accident may be consulted in linguistic references.