kismet

English

Alternative forms

• kismat, Kismet

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish قسمت (kısmet, “fate, destiny”) (Turkish kısmet), from Arabic قِسْمَة (qisma, “division, lot, destiny”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɪz.mɛt/, /ˈkɪs.mɛt/

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Noun

kismet (usually uncountable, plural kismets)

1. Fate; a predetermined or unavoidable destiny.

   Synonyms: destiny, fate, fortune, lot

   • 1887, Rudyard Kipling, Bitters Neat:

     But these things are kismet, and we only find out all about them just when any knowledge is too late.

   • 1917, Percival Christopher Wren, “The Rafters”, in The Young Stagers:

     "Golly!" he cried. "I'm awfully sorry, Bo'sun, but you're It. You're luck's clean out to-day. What rotten Kismet you do have. The Lot fell on you all right, smack in the middle of your chest."

   • 1920, F. Scott Fitzgerald, chapter III, in The Camel's Back:

     But at this point fickle Kismet, who for a day had played with him bitterly and sardonically, decided to reward him in full for the amusement he had afforded her. Kismet turned the tawny eyes of the snake-charmer to the camel. Kismet led her to lean toward the man beside her and say, "Who's that? That camel?"

   • 2019 June 8, Kitty Empire, “Madonna: Madame X review – a splendidly bizarre return to form”, in The Guardian‎:

     Sexualised Catholicism, at the dawn of MTV, was Madonna’s first stroke of kismet.

Translations

Serbo-Croatian

Alternative forms

• kr̀smet

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish قسمت (kismet), from Arabic قِسْمَة (qisma).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kǐsmet/
• Hyphenation: kis‧met

Noun

kìsmet m (Cyrillic spelling кѝсмет)

1. kismet
2. fate

Declension

Synonyms

• sudbina
• udes
• usud