Destiny

How to spell destiny

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce destiny

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does destiny mean?

1. nounThe events that will inevitably happen to a person, or the hidden force believed to control them.

Destiny in a sentence

• She believed it was her destiny to run the family business.

• Taking that job felt like a turning point in his destiny.

Where does destiny come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin verb destinare, which meant 'to make firm', 'to fix in place', or 'to determine', built from the prefix de- and a root related to stare, 'to stand'. The underlying idea was something settled and standing firm, hence a fixed or predetermined course of events. The noun passed into Old French as destinee, the past participle of destiner, carrying the sense of what has been ordained or appointed. English borrowed it in the 1300s, originally in the sense of fate as something already arranged by a higher power. The same Latin root sits inside 'destination', the fixed point you are heading towards, and that link is a useful reminder that destiny is spelled with the same -stin- run, not a stray 'a' in the middle.

How the word is built

• de- (intensive/down)
• stin (from destinare: to make firm, fix)
• -y (noun suffix)