fortune-telling
Meaning
The practice of predicting someone's future, typically by using special methods such as reading cards or looking at lines on their hand.
Structure
Usage
She dismissed fortune-telling as mere superstition with no basis in fact.
The carnival booth offered palm reading and other forms of fortune-telling.
His interest in fortune-telling began with a simple deck of tarot cards.
Etymology
The compound "fortune-telling" is a transparent combination of two native English elements. "Fortune" entered English via Old French from Latin fortuna, the name for the goddess of chance and fate, which itself may derive from the Proto-Indo-European root bher- meaning "to carry." "Telling" originates from the Old English verb tellan, meaning to count, recount, or narrate, from the Germanic root taljan. The compound's logic is literal: it is the act of narrating or predicting (telling) what one's fate or luck (fortune) will be. It emerged in the late 16th century, reflecting a period when various divinatory practices were commonly sought to reveal the uncertain future dictated by fortune.
Analysis
fortune: From Latin fortuna (chance, fate, luck). Functions as the object or subject of the prediction in this compound. telling: From Old English tellan (to count, relate, narrate). The present participle form functions as a noun meaning "the act of narrating or predicting."