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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Fortuitous \For*tu"i*tous\, adjective [L. fortuitus; akin to forte, adverb, by chance, prop. abl. of fors, fortis, chance. See {Fortune}.]
1. Happening by chance; coming or occuring unexpectedly, or without any known cause; chance; as, the fortuitous concourse of atoms.
It was from causes seemingly fortuitous . . . that all the mighty effects of the Reformation flowed. --Robertson.
So as to throw a glancing and fortuitous light upon the whole. --Hazlitt.
2. (LAw) Happening independently of human will or means of foresight; resulting from unavoidable physical causes. --Abbott.
Syn: Accidental; casual; contingent; incidental. See {Accidental}. -- {For*tu"i*tous*ly}, adverb -- {For*tu"i*tous*ness}, noun
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
fortuitous
adjective
1: having no cause or apparent cause; "a causeless miracle"; "fortuitous encounters--strange accidents of fortune"; "we cannot regard artistic invention as...uncaused and unrelated to the times" [syn: {causeless}, {uncaused}]
2: occurring by happy chance; "profits were enhanced by a fortuitous drop in the cost of raw materials"
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
44 Moby Thesaurus words for "fortuitous": accessory, accidental, additional, adscititious, adventitious, aleatory, appurtenant, ascititious, auxiliary, casual, causeless, chance, chancy, circumstantial, collateral, contingent, destinal, dicey, extra, fatal, fatidic, fluky, iffy, incidental, indeterminate, inessential, nonessential, odd, risky, secondary, subsidiary, superadded, superfluous, supervenient, supplemental, supplementary, uncaused, undetermined, unessential, unexpected, unforeseeable, unforeseen, unlooked-for, unpredictable
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |