LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
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“fate” in Latin

The English word fate itself goes back to Latin for, through fāta.

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

fate
fatum (fate, as a mysterious, immutable law, by which the universe is governed): fors (chance, as a sort of mythological being, which baffles the plans, etc., of mortals; τύχη): fortuna (fortune, not as mere blind chance, but as taking a deliberate part in favor of or against a person; also of the effect which fatum or fors works): sors (lot, whether proceeding from a superior power or as the consequence of a man’s own actions; but with the associated notion of a secret destiny): casus (chance, unforeseen event, etc.): eventus (the issue, as it were, of an occurrence, etc.): eventum (the event itself, as taking a fortunate turn, or the reverse). A happy fate, fortuna secunda or prospera; sors secunda: an unhappy fate, fortuna adversa; sors misera; casus miserabilis: a hard fate, fortuna gravis; sors acerba; casus gravis or acerbus: to be exposed to the storms of fate, jactari variis casibus; jactari varietate fortunae: it has been my fate to, etc., accidit mihi, ut, etc.: it has been my happy fate to, etc., contigit mihi, ut, etc.: they will all meet with or experience the same fate, omnes eundem fortunae exitum laturi sunt: to be prepared to bear one’s fate, whatever it may be, ad omnem eventum paratum esse: to bear one’s fate patiently, whatever it may be, quemcumque casum fortuna invexerit, quiete ferre: to take warning by the fate of others, ex aliorum eventis suis rationibus providere (Auct., ad Her., 4, 9, 13): whatever my fate may be, I shall submit, quaecumque fortuna proponetur, subeatur: so fate would have it, sic erat in fatis (Ov., Pont., 1, 7, 56; ☞ Ov., Trist., 3, 2, 1); if it should be the will of fate that you should recover, si tibi fatum est convalescere: against the will of fate, praeter fatum: the storms of fate, fulmina fortunae (e.g., to despise, contemnere, Cic., Tusc., 2, 27, 66); tela fortunae (Vid: Cic., ad Fam., 5, 16, 2: homines esse nos, ea lege natos, ut omnibus telis fortunae proposita sit vita nostra, i. e., “that our life is exposed to all the blows of fate”); fortunae ictus (Vid: Sen., Ep., 80, 3; ut fortunae ictus invictus excipiat): anybody or anybody’s life is less exposed to the blows of fate, minus multa patent in alicujus vita, quae fortuna feriat (Cic., Off., 21, 73): not by any decree of fate, non fato: the books of fate, libri fatales: to be written in the books of fate, libris fatalibus contineri; in libris fatalibus inveniri.
The Fates, Parcae (Parca, sing., Hor., Pers.); Fata.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for fate?
The usual Latin words for “fate” are fātum, fors, fortūna; also sors, cāsus, ēventus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.