fatal

[feyt-l] /ˈfeɪt l/
adjective
1.
causing or capable of causing death; mortal; deadly:
a fatal accident; a fatal dose of poison.
2.
causing destruction, misfortune, ruin, or failure:
The withdrawal of funds was fatal to the project.
3.
decisively important; fateful:
The fatal day finally arrived.
4.
proceeding from or decreed by fate; inevitable:
a fatal series of events.
5.
influencing or concerned with fate; fatalistic.
6.
Obsolete, doomed.
7.
Obsolete, prophetic.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English (< Old French) < Latin fātālis of fate. See fate, -al1
Related forms
fatalness, noun
nonfatal, adjective
nonfatally, adverb
nonfatalness, noun
quasi-fatal, adjective
quasi-fatally, adverb
Can be confused
fatal, fateful, fetal (see synonym study at the current entry)
Synonyms
1. Fatal, deadly, lethal, mortal apply to something that has caused or is capable of causing death. Fatal may refer to either the future or the past; in either case, it emphasizes inevitability and the inescapable—the disastrous, whether death or dire misfortune: The accident was fatal. Such a mistake would be fatal. Deadly looks to the future, and suggests that which is likely to cause death (though not inevitably so): a deadly poison, disease. Like deadly, lethal looks to the future but, like many other words of Latin origin, suggests a more technical usage: a lethal dose; a gas that is lethal. Mortal looks to the past and refers to death that has actually occurred: He received a mortal wound. The disease proved to be mortal. 2. ruinous, disastrous, calamitous, catastrophic, devastating. 4. predestined, foreordained.
Antonyms
1. life-giving.
Examples from the web for fatal
  • It is so important to be well informed and educated on this rare disease that could be potentially fatal.
  • Researchers track the cause of a rare but fatal form of insomnia.
  • Global warming may damage health and cause fatal disease.
  • She belongs to a family carrying the gene for fatal familial insomnia.
  • It's called preventing a catastrophe from becoming fatal to our species.
  • If the head of a wheat or rice plant grows too big, the plant will fall over, with fatal results.
  • Up to one in five cases of cutaneous anthrax, the skin-infecting form, can be fatal.
  • But malnutrition actually causes diseases as well, and can be fatal in its own right.
  • But their speed, along with their tendency to fixate on their prey while giving chase, can prove fatal.
  • Trials of two different drugs show promise in treating advanced melanoma, which is usually fatal.
British Dictionary definitions for fatal

fatal

/ˈfeɪtəl/
adjective
1.
resulting in or capable of causing death: a fatal accident
2.
bringing ruin; disastrous
3.
decisively important; fateful
4.
decreed by fate; destined; inevitable
Word Origin
C14: from Old French fatal or Latin fātālis, from fātum, see fate
Word Origin and History for fatal
adj.

late 14c., "decreed by fate," from Middle French fatal (14c.) and directly from Latin fatalis "ordained by fate," from fatum (see fate (n.)); sense of "causing death" is early 15c.

fatal in Medicine

fatal fa·tal (fāt'l)
adj.
Causing or capable of causing death.

fatal in Technology

programming
Resulting in termination of the program.
(1997-08-03)