fatality

 
Pronunciation: /fəˈtalɪti, feɪ-/

noun (plural fatalities)

  • 1an occurrence of death by accident, in war, or from disease: 80 per cent of pedestrian fatalities occur in built-up areas
  • 2 [mass noun] helplessness in the face of fate: a sense of fatality gripped her

Origin:

late 15th century (denoting the quality of causing death or disaster): from French fatalité or late Latin fatalitas, from Latin fatalis 'decreed by fate', from fatum (see fate). fatality (sense 1) dates from the mid 19th century