2022-03-18
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน - Set – F - fatal & fateful
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Dictionary.com:
ออกเสียง fatal = “FEYT-l”
ออกเสียง fateful = “FEYT-fuhl”
Dictionary of Problem Words and Expressions:
fatal & fateful
These words, derived from a Latin term
meaning “destiny” or “fate,” have distinct meanings.
Fatal means “causing death”
or “capable of resulting in destruction or ruin”:
“The highway accident was fatal to four persons.’
“Your lack of support will be fatal to my campaign.”
Synonyms forfatal include deadly, lethal, and mortal.
Fateful means “important,” “highly significant,”
“involving momentous consequences”:
“The meeting between Hitler and Mussolini was fateful for the history
of Europe and the entire world.”
Fateful may mean “fatal,” as in the preceding example,
but what is fatal is not always fateful:
Your unwillingness to lend me money to buy a coat
may be fatal to my wardrobe plans but is hardly
a fateful occurrence.
Dictionary.com:
SYNONYM STUDY FOR FATAL
Fatal, Deadly, Lethal, Mortal
apply to something that has caused or is capable of causing death.
Fatal may refer to either the future or the past;
in either case, it emphasizes inevitability and the inescapable
—the disastrous, whether death or dire misfortune:
The accident was fatal.
Such a mistake would be fatal.
Deadly looks to the future,
and suggests that which is likely to cause death
(though not inevitably so):
a deadly poison, disease.
Like deadly, lethal looks to the future but,
like many other words of Latin origin,
suggests a more technical usage:
a lethal dose;
a gas that is lethal.
Mortal looks to the past and
refers to death that has actually occurred:
He received a mortal wound.
The disease proved to be mortal.
Dictionary.com:
MORE ABOUT FATAL
What does fatal mean?
Fatal literally means deadly—capable of causing death.
Similar words are deadly, lethal, and mortal
—though they are often used in different ways.
Fatal can also be used in a figurative way to mean capable of
causing the destruction, ruin, or failure of someone or something,
as in
Failing to update their products proved to be a fatal mistake for the company.
Example:
These changes will hopefully greatly reduce the number of
fatal car accidents that occur on highways.
Where does fatal come from?
The first records of fatal in English come from the second half of the 1300s. It comes from the Latin fātālis, meaning “of fate.”
Fatal was originally used in English
to refer to things affected or doomed by fate
—and it can still be used this way, though it is uncommon.
It wasn’t until around the 1500s that fatal
started to be used to refer to things that can cause death or ruin.
Most commonly, fatal is applied to things thatcan cause death,
such as a fatal dose of drugs, or things that have resulted in death,
such as a fatal accident.
A mistake can be described as fatal
if it literally causes someone to die.
But the phrase fatal mistake more often
refers to something that caused the destruction of something,
as in
The chaotic press conference ended up being fatal to the campaign.
Fatal can mean “fateful,”
but this is much less commonly used than its other senses.
However, it is used in this way in the term fatalism,
referring to a belief that everything is inevitable
and determined by fate.
Someone with such a view can be described as fatalistic.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Choose the Right Synonym for fatal
Deadly, Mortal, Fatal, Lethal
mean causing or capable of causing death.
Deadly applies to an established or very likely cause of death.
a deadly disease
Mortal implies that death has occurred or is inevitable.
a mortal wound
Fatal stresses the inevitability of what has in fact resulted in death or destruction.
fatal consequences
Lethal applies to something that is bound to cause death or exists for the destruction of life.
lethal gas
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Choose the Right Synonym for fateful
Ominous, Portentous, Fateful
mean having a menacing or threatening aspect.
Ominous implies having a menacing, alarming character foreshadowing evil or disaster.
ominous rumblings from the volcano
Portentous suggests being frighteningly big or impressive but now seldom definitely connotes forewarning of calamity.
an eerie and portentous stillness
Fateful suggests being of momentous or decisive importance.
the fateful conference that led to war
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Usage Notes
‘Fatal’ vs. ‘Fateful’
Warning: murkiness ahead
Fatal and fateful: they look similar, sound similar, and appear in similar contexts.
Those who give advice on such matters
will lay out clear boundaries between the two for you to observe,
but we’re here to tell you
it’s murkier than most of them would like to admit.
So be careful where you step.
Fatal is the original adjective for fate,
and it can carry the usual simple relational sense:
the Fates are "the fatal sisters."
These days, however, fatal most often is used to mean "causing death,"
as in "a fatal accident" or "a fatal wound."
The word is also frequently used
with meanings that are an extension of this use,
where it is destruction or ruin
—a hair or more short of a death-dealing variety
—that is the dreaded result.
For example,
in "a fatal attraction to gambling,"
the attraction is one that brings financial ruin rather than death;
in "a fatal design flaw,"
the design flaw is so major that it causes the design to fail.
In any case, the situation with fatal is bad.
All clear so far, right?
Well, here's where we introduce the first bit of murk:
fateful has also historically been used in
this “causing ruin or destruction” sense:
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible, swift sword.
— Julia Ward Howe, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," 1862
This is not a common function of fateful, though,
so don’t let it be too worrisome.
There’s worse murk ahead.
Back to fatal: those of us who use the word
are likely quite comfortable with it
being used to describe wounds, attractions, flaws, and the like.
What might make us less comfortable, however,
is using it
to mean "involving momentous consequences; portentous,"
as in “a fatal decision.”
Assigning that meaning to fatal
would make it synonymous with
the most common meaning of fateful.
People who give advice about these sorts of things
don't like fatal to do this job.
But—murk alert—it does.
And it has since the time of Chaucer.
We'll spare you the examples from Middle English,
and just throw out some from the past 300 years:
Of course none of this makes fateful
—the word typically recommended (and typically used)
in these contexts—any less able to do the same work:
Fateful is indeed the usual choice in contexts like these.
Also worth noting is that fateful, unlike fatal in such contexts,
sometimes has a neutral, if not quite positive, connotation:
This murkiness doesn’t mean that
the boundaries between fatal and fateful are indistinguishable exactly.
It simply means that the evidence shows that
the boundaries are shared in some places.
Lambasting someone for using fatal to mean “portentous” isn’t justified,
but choosing to use fateful in such cases makes good sense,
since it is the more common choice
and is therefore less likely to distract your audience.
If you’d like to follow the patterns of use
most often employed by your fellow English speakers,
we recommend that you use fatal
when describing things that cause death, ruin, or failure,
or when describing things related to fate as in “destiny,”
and that you use fateful
when describing ominous things that signal
that something big or important is about to happen.
But if you choose to do otherwise, it won't be a fatal decision.
