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Karma vs Fate - What's the difference?

karma | fate |

As nouns the difference between karma and fate

is that karma is (hinduism|buddhism|sikhism|jainism) the sum total of a person's actions, which determine the person's next incarnation in samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth while fate is the presumed cause, force, principle, or divine will that predetermines events.

As a verb fate is

to foreordain or predetermine, to make inevitable.

karma

English

Noun

  • (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) The sum total of a person's actions, which determine the person's next incarnation in samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth.
  • A force or law of nature which causes one to reap what one sows; destiny; fate.
  • (uncommon) A distinctive feeling, aura, or atmosphere.
  • * 2001 , Inside the Hits , page 307:
  • That means everything from lighting to the vibes, the karma of the room.
  • * 2006 , Chase Sargent, From Buddy to Boss , page 219:
  • How many times when you have been in a bar have you felt that a confrontation was building up, even without extensive verbal exchanges? Sometimes you can feel the karma or energy of a place change, and you should not ignore that
  • * 2010 , R.L. Roach, Irish Lie , page 135:
  • On the way to Lancaster, which was about an hour and a half from Philly, John felt the karma .

    Derived terms

    * karmic

    fate

    English

    (wikipedia fate)

    Noun

  • The presumed cause, force, principle, or divine will that predetermines events.
  • *
  • Captain Edward Carlisle; he could not tell what this prisoner might do. He cursed the fate' which had assigned such a duty, cursed especially that ' fate which forced a gallant soldier to meet so superb a woman as this under handicap so hard.
  • The effect, consequence, outcome, or inevitable events predetermined by this cause.
  • Destiny; often with a connotation of death, ruin, misfortune, etc.
  • (lb) (one of the goddesses said to control the destiny of human beings).
  • Synonyms

    * destiny * doom * fortune * kismet * lot * necessity * orlay * predestination * wyrd

    Antonyms

    * choice * free will * freedom

    Derived terms

    * fatal * fatalism * fatality * tempt fate

    See also

    * determinism * indeterminism

    Verb

    (fat)
  • To foreordain or predetermine, to make inevitable.
  • The oracle's prediction fated Oedipus to kill his father; not all his striving could change what would occur.
  • * 2011 , James Al-Shamma, Sarah Ruhl: A Critical Study of the Plays (page 119)
  • At the conclusion of this part, Eric, who plays Jesus and is now a soldier, captures Violet in the forest, fating her to a concentration camp.

    Usage notes

    * In some uses this may imply it causes the inevitable event.

    Anagrams

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