Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
wheel of fortune en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˌwiːl‿əv ˈfɔːt͡ʃuːn/
- /ˌʍil-/ (General-American) wine–whine merger
- /ˌʍiːl-/ wine–whine merger
- /-t͡ʃən/ (General-American)
- /ˌwil‿əv ˈfoɹt͡ʃun/ (General-American)
Etymology
From Wheel of Fortune, referring to the spinning of the Roman goddess Fortuna’s wheel which determined people’s fortunes.
Meanings
-
A gambling or lottery device consisting of a wheel which is spun horizontally to determine, by its stopping position, whether a gambler will receive one of the prizes marked around its circumference.
Forms
Translations (4)
de Glücksrad (gambling or lottery device consisting of a wheel which is spun horizontally) · tr çarkıfelek (gambling or lottery device consisting of a wheel which is spun horizontally) · hu szerencsekerék (gambling or lottery device consisting of a wheel which is spun horizontally) · sv lyckohjul (gambling or lottery device consisting of a wheel which is spun horizontally)
wheel of fortune en · PROPN
Pronunciation
- /ˌwiːl‿əv ˈfɔːt͡ʃuːn/
- /ˌʍil-/ (General-American) wine–whine merger
- /ˌʍiːl-/ wine–whine merger
- /-t͡ʃən/ (General-American)
- /ˌwil‿əv ˈfoɹt͡ʃun/ (General-American)
Etymology
From Wheel of Fortune, referring to the spinning of the Roman goddess Fortuna’s wheel which determined people’s fortunes.
Meanings
-
(alt-of) Alternative letter-case form of Wheel of Fortune (“the mythological wheel turned randomly by Fortuna, the Roman goddess of fate, fortune, and luck, to determine people's fortunes which were thus unpredictable”).
The vvheel of fortune turns inceſſantly round, and vvho can ſay vvithin himſelf I ſhall to day be uppermoſt.
1760, Oliver Goldsmith, “Letter VII. From Lien Chi Altangi, to Fum Hoam, First President of the Ceremonial Academy at Pekin, in China.”, in The Citizen of the World; or Letters from a Chinese Philosopher, […], volume I, London: […] [F]or the author; and sold by J. Newbery and W. Bristow, […]; J. Leake and W. Frederick, […]; B. Collins, […]; and A. M. Smart and Co. […], published 1762, →OCLC, page 22:As a medievalist Ignatius believed in the rota Fortunae, or wheel of fortune, a central concept in De Consolatione Philosophiae, the philosophical work which had laid foundation for medieval thought. […] Was his wheel rapidly spinning downward?
1963 (date written), John Kennedy Toole, chapter 2, in A Confederacy of Dunces, London: Penguin Books, published 1980 (1981 printing), →ISBN, section I, page 27: