Kismet


[kiz-mit, -met, kis-] /ˈkɪz mɪt, -mɛt, ˈkɪs-/

noun
1.
fate; destiny.
/ˈkɪzmɛt; ˈkɪs-/
noun
1.
(Islam) the will of Allah
2.
fate or destiny
n.

“fate, destiny,” 1834, from Turkish qismet, from Arabic qismah, qismat “portion, lot, fate,” from root of qasama “he divided.”

From a nation of enthusiasts and conquerors, the Osmanlis became a nation of sleepers and smokers. They came into Europe with the sword in one hand and the Koran in the other: were they driven out of their encampment, it would be with the Koran in one hand and the pipe in the other, crying: ‘Kismet! Kismet! Allah kehrim!’ (God hath willed it! God is great!) [Dr. James O. Noyes, “The Ottoman Empire,” “The Knickerbocker,” October 1858]

Popularized as the title of a novel in 1877.

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