Fatalism

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A philosophical perspective positing that events are determined by fate and cannot be altered
2. The view that all events are fixed in advance and human actions cannot change their outcomes
3. The doctrine asserting that destiny governs events, making efforts to alter fate ineffective

Etymology: Fatalism is a plain piece of English construction: the adjective "fatal," which comes from Latin "fatalis," meaning "decreed by fate," joined to the suffix "-ism," a noun-forming ending that denotes a doctrine or belief. The Greek "-ismos" behind that suffix is the same ending found in words like "baptism" and "criticism," and it reached English through Latin and French, so fatalism is essentially a label for the creed that everything is predetermined. The core idea is older than the English word. "Fate" in the sense of an unavoidable destiny is what the adjective "fatal" was built on, and the suffix simply turns that concept into a system of belief. The word therefore describes a doctrine about fate rather than fate itself, which is why it reads as a claim about how the world works rather than a description of any single event.

Synonyms: determinism, predestination

Antonyms: free will, liberty