Des"ti*ny (?), n.;
pl. Destinies (#). [OE. destinee,
destene, F. destinée, from destiner. See Destine.]
1. That to which
any person or thing is
destined; predetermined state; condition foreordained by the Divine or
by human will; fate; lot; doom.
Thither he
Will come to know his
destiny.
Shak.
No man of woman born,
Coward or brave, can
shun his destiny.
Bryant.
2. The fixed order of things; invincible necessity; fate; a resistless power or agency conceived of as determining the future, whether in general or
of an individual.
But who can turn the stream of destiny?
Spenser.
Fame comes only when deserved, and then is as inevitable as destiny, for it is destiny.
Longfellow.
The Destinies (Anc. Myth.), the three Parcæ, or Fates; the supposed powers which preside over human life, and determine its circumstances and duration.
Marked by the Destinies to be avoided.
Shak.
Hear it pronounced