Fate or fete?
fate is a noun meaning “The presumed cause, force, principle, or divine will that predetermines events”; fete is a noun meaning “A festival open to the public, the proceeds from which are often given to…”. They sound the same (/feɪt/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) fate is about 48 times as common as fete.
What is the difference between fate and fete?
| fate | fete | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun, verb |
| Meaning | The presumed cause, force, principle, or divine will that predetermines events The effect, consequence, outcome, or inevitable events predetermined by this cause To foreordain or predetermine, to make inevitable | A festival open to the public, the proceeds from which are often given to charity A feast, celebration or carnival To celebrate (a person) |
| Example | Accept your fate | The final fete of the year was held at the Plymouth Hoe on 20 July, where fine weather and crowds of people ensured much support for local… |
| Forms | fates | fetes fêtes |
| Pronunciation | /feɪt/ | /feɪt/ /fɛt/ |
| In writing | 23 times per million words | about once in every 2 million words |
Sources: fate and fete in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of fate and fete
fate
- 1
The presumed cause, force, principle, or divine will that predetermines events
- 2
To foreordain or predetermine, to make inevitable
The oracle's prediction fated Oedipus to kill his father; not all his striving could change what would occur
- 3
The effect, consequence, outcome, or inevitable events predetermined by this cause
- 4
An event or a situation which is inevitable in the fullness of time
- 5
Destiny; often with a connotation of death, ruin, misfortune, etc
Accept your fate
- 6
Alternative letter-case form of Fate (one of the goddesses said to control the destiny of human beings)
- 7
The products of a chemical reaction in their final form in the biosphere
- 8
The mature endpoint of a region, group of cells or individual cell in an embryo, including all changes leading to that mature endpoint
fete
- 1
A festival open to the public, the proceeds from which are often given to charity
The final fete of the year was held at the Plymouth Hoe on 20 July, where fine weather and crowds of people ensured much support for local charities and boosted club finds
- 2
To celebrate (a person)
- 3
UKAlternative spelling of fete
- 4
Alternative spelling of fete
- 5
A feast, celebration or carnival
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, fate or fete?
fate appears 23 times per million words; fete about once in every 2 million words.
fate 23 times per million wordsfete about once in every 2 million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).