destiny = the inevitable or necessary
fate to which a particular person or thing is destined; one's lot.
To settle somebody ‘s destiny.
fate = unfavorable
destiny; doom.
stroke of fate
decide a person’s fate eg. Whether he shall be killed or allowed to live
meet one’s fate be killed, die
to accept one’s fate
Although the words are used interchangeably in many cases,
fate and
destiny can be distinguished. Modern usage defines fate as a power or agency that predetermines and orders the course of events. Fate defines events as ordered or "meant to be". Fate is used in regard to the finality of events as they have worked themselves out, and that same finality is projected into the future to become the inevitability of events as they will work themselves out.
One word derivative of "fate" is "fatality" another "fatalism". Fate implies no choice, and ends with a death. Fate is an outcome determined by an outside agency acting upon a person or entity; but with destiny the entity is participating in achieving an outcome that is directly related to itself. Participation happens wilfully.
Used in the past tense, "destiny" and "fate" are both more interchangeable, both imply "one's lot" or fortunes, and includes the sum of events leading up to a currently achieved outcome (e.g. "it was her destiny to be leader" and "it was her fate to be leader").
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