The fixed order of things; invincible necessity; an irresistible power or agency conceived of as determining the future, whether in general or of an individual.
That which is inevitable in the fullness of time.
One's eventual fate (not necessarily inevitable or predestined).
That to which any person or thing is destined; a predetermined state; a condition predestined by the Divine or by human will.
The most important reason for, or element of, something.
The principal spring of a clockwork mechanism, which drives it by uncoiling.