Parcae

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Parcae \Par"cae\, n. pl. [L.]
     The Fates. See {Fate}, 4.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  Fate \Fate\ (f[=a]t), n. [L. fatum a prophetic declaration,
     oracle, what is ordained by the gods, destiny, fate, fr. fari
     to speak: cf. OF. fat. See {Fame}, {Fable}, {Ban}, and cf.
     1st {Fay}, {Fairy}.]
     1. A fixed decree by which the order of things is prescribed;
        the immutable law of the universe; inevitable necessity;
        the force by which all existence is determined and
        conditioned.
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              Necessity and chance
              Approach not me; and what I will is fate. --Milton.
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              Beyond and above the Olympian gods lay the silent,
              brooding, everlasting fate of which victim and
              tyrant were alike the instruments.    --Froude.
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     2. Appointed lot; allotted life; arranged or predetermined
        event; destiny; especially, the final lot; doom; ruin;
        death.
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              The great, th'important day, big with the fate
              Of Cato and of Rome.                  --Addison.
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              Our wills and fates do so contrary run
              That our devices still are overthrown. --Shak.
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              The whizzing arrow sings,
              And bears thy fate, Antinous, on its wings. --Pope.
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     3. The element of chance in the affairs of life; the
        unforeseen and unestimated conitions considered as a force
        shaping events; fortune; esp., opposing circumstances
        against which it is useless to struggle; as, fate was, or
        the fates were, against him.
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              A brave man struggling in the storms of fate.
                                                    --Pope.
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              Sometimes an hour of Fate's serenest weather strikes
              through our changeful sky its coming beams. --B.
                                                    Taylor.
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     4. pl. [L. Fata, pl. of fatum.] (Myth.) The three goddesses,
        Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, sometimes called the
        {Destinies}, or {Parc[ae]}who were supposed to determine
        the course of human life. They are represented, one as
        holding the distaff, a second as spinning, and the third
        as cutting off the thread.
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     Note: Among all nations it has been common to speak of fate
           or destiny as a power superior to gods and men --
           swaying all things irresistibly. This may be called the
           fate of poets and mythologists. Philosophical fate is
           the sum of the laws of the universe, the product of
           eternal intelligence and the blind properties of
           matter. Theological fate represents Deity as above the
           laws of nature, and ordaining all things according to
           his will -- the expression of that will being the law.
           --Krauth-Fleming.
  
     Syn: Destiny; lot; doom; fortune; chance.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Parcae
       n : the 3 goddesses of fate or destiny; identified with the
           Greek Moirai and similar to the Norse Norns

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  20 Moby Thesaurus words for "Parcae":
     Atropos, Clotho, Dame Fortune, Decuma, Fata, Fates, Fortuna,
     Heaven, Lachesis, Moirai, Morta, Nona, Norns, Providence, Skuld,
     Tyche, Urdur, Verthandi, Weird Sisters, Weirds