fortune

Fortune is a term with multiple related meanings in English. It commonly denotes a favorable or unfavorable outcome that seems driven by luck or fate. It may also refer to wealth or prosperity—the total resources someone possesses or a society's economic state. The word is frequently contrasted with misfortune, which denotes adversity or bad luck.

The term derives from Latin fortuna, and in ancient Roman religion Fortuna personified luck and chance. The Greek equivalent is Tyche. The concept has occupied philosophy, theology, and literature for centuries, shaping ideas about fate, agency, and the role of chance in human life.

In culture, fortune appears in everyday expressions such as fortune favors the bold, and in practices like fortune-telling, which interprets signs to predict future events. Institutions and media incorporate the word as well, for example in the title of magazines and in the term fortune as wealth in economics and public discourse.

Scholarly discussion treats fortune as a variable not completely under human control, balancing elements of luck, strategy, and circumstance. Studies of wealth distribution examine the social dimensions of fortune, including how recovery from misfortune depends on access to resources, opportunity, and risk management.