Karma
Etymology
From Sanskrit karman (“act, action, deed”), from the root kṛ (“to do, to make”). In Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain thought it names the moral law by which actions condition future existence. English absorbed a looser, everyday version — “what goes around comes around.”
noun · /KAR-muh/
The principle that a person’s actions shape their future for better or worse.
What it names
The moral bookkeeping we sense in life — the feeling that deeds return to their doer, whether in this life or a next one.
Example
He swore it was karma when the driver who cut everyone off got pulled over a mile later.
Related idea
Fate is fixed in advance; karma is earned — consequences flow from your own past actions rather than a preset script.