WORD OF THE DAY: KISMET

WORD OF THE DAY: KISMET

noun | KIZZ-met

What It Means

Kismet refers to a power that is believed to control what happens in the future. It is synonymous with both fate and destiny.

// From the moment we met, we felt connected; we knew it was kismet.

Examples of KISMET

“I’d been a fan of Fantasia since she laid on that floor [on ‘American Idol’] and sang ‘Summertime,’ because, I swear, she was singing to me. I voted for her until my finger was numb. I’ve always been a fan of hers—and she says the same thing about me. We always wanted to meet each other. It was kismet. So it was easy. The chemistry was natural.” — Taraji P. Henson, quoted in The Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2024

Did You Know?

Is it your fate to tie macramé while drinking coffee and eating sherbet in a minaret? That would be an unusual destiny, but if it turns out to be your kismet, you will owe much to Turkish and Arabic. We borrowed kismet from Turkish in the 1800s, but it ultimately comes from the Arabic word qisma, meaning “portion” or “lot.” Several other terms in our bizarre opening question (namely, macramé, coffee, sherbet, and minaret) have roots in those languages too. In the case of macramé and minaret, there is a little French influence as well. Coffee and macramé also have Italian relations, and sherbet has an ancestor in a Persian name for a type of cold drink.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary