Fatality
/fəˈtæləti/
Definitions
2 meaningsA death resulting from an accident, disaster, or other event.
/fəˈtæləti/
A death caused by an accident or a disaster.
The storm caused multiple fatalities.
💡 Simply: Imagine a bad car crash. A fatality is when someone unfortunately dies in that crash. It's the sad result of something that caused death.
👶 For kids: When someone dies because of something bad, like a car accident, that's a fatality.
More Examples
The police are investigating the cause of the fatality.
The accident was a major catastrophe, resulting in a tragic fatality.
How It's Used
"The train crash resulted in five fatalities."
"The fatality rate from the disease has decreased due to improved treatment."
The quality or state of being fatal or destined to happen.
/fəˈtæləti/
The quality of being fatal; the inevitable nature of death.
The writer explored the fatality of the situation.
💡 Simply: It's like believing that something bad *has* to happen. Like, no matter what you do, it's already been decided that it will happen. It's the idea of fate.
👶 For kids: Sometimes, grown-ups talk about things that are supposed to happen no matter what, even if we don't like it. That's like fatality.
More Examples
He pondered the fatality of human existence.
She grappled with the fatality of the loss.
How It's Used
"The hero understood the fatality of his situation."
"Some believe in the fatality of certain events in life."
From Late Latin *fatalitas*, from *fatalis* 'fatal'. The word has been used since the 16th century, initially in the sense of 'the quality of being fatal'.
The word 'fatality' has been used since the 16th century, initially referring to the quality of being fatal and then, later, to the actual event of a death.
Memory tip
Think of FATAL-ity, it's the outcome when something is FATAL.
Practice
Word Origin
Root: fatalis