forte

See also forté

English

Etymology 1

From French fort (“strong”), from Latin fortis (“strong”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /fɔt/ or IPA: /fɔtˈeɪ/ or IPA: /ˈfɔteɪ/
• (US) IPA: /fɔɻt/ or IPA: /fɔɻtˈeɪ/ or IPA: /ˈfɔɻteɪ/

Traditionally pronounced by purists with only one syllable (like fort), it comes from a French noun. Often confused in usage with forte, a two-syllable word coming from Italian. The two words are considered Heteronyms in written English only if the accent mark is dropped. Without the accent mark its proper pronunciation must be gleaned from context, often leading to mispronunciation.

Noun

forte (plural fortes)

1. A strength or talent.

   He writes respectably, but poetry is not his forte.

2. The strong part of a sword blade, close to the hilt.

Translations

strength or talent

Bulgarian: сила (bg) f. Chinese: Mandarin: 長處 (zh), 长处 (zh) (chángchu) Finnish: vahvuus, vahva puoli

German: starke Seite (de) f. Hungarian: erősség (hu) Japanese: 強み (ja) (つよみ, tsuyomi) Russian: сильная сторона (ru) (síl'naja storoná) f.

the strong part of a sword blade, close to the hilt

Hungarian: <a kard pengéjének erősebbik, a markolathoz közelebb eső, alsó fele>

Etymology 2

From Italian forte (“strong”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈfɔteɪ/
• (US) IPA: /ˈfɔɻteɪ/

Noun

forte (plural fortes)

1. A passage in music to be played loudly; a loud section of music.

   This forte marks the climax of the second movement.

Adjective

Forte notation.

forte (comparative fortissimo, superlative fortississimo)

1. (music) Loud. Used as a dynamic directive in sheet music in its abbreviated form, {f.}, to indicate raising the volume of the music. (abbreviated in musical notation with an f, unicode character 1D191)

   This passage is forte, then there's a diminuendo to mezzo piano.

Translations

music: loud

Finnish: forte (fi) German: forte (de)

Hungarian: forte (hu)

Adverb

forte (comparative fortissimo, superlative fortississimo)

1. (music) loudly

   The musicians played the passage forte.

Translations

music: loudly

Bulgarian: форте Finnish: fortena (fi), kovaa (fi), voimakkaasti (fi)

German: forte (de) Hungarian: forte (hu)

Related terms

• fortepiano
• fortissimo
• fortississimo
• mezzo forte
• pianoforte

See also

• piano

Anagrams

• fetor
• ofter

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Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈforte/
• Hyphenation: for‧te

Adverb

forte

1. strongly

Related terms

• forta

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French

Adjective

forte f.

1. feminine form of fort

Anagrams

• foret, forêt

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Galician

Etymology

From Latin fortis.

Adjective

forte m. and f. (plural fortes)

1. strong

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Italian

Etymology

From Latin fortis, fortem.

Pronunciation

• enPR: fòrte, IPA: /ˈfɔrte/, SAMPA: /"fOrte/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

forte m. and f. (m and f plural forti)

1. strong
2. (linguistics) stressed

   vocali forti - stressed vowel

Synonyms

• robusto

Antonyms

• debole

Related terms

• fortemente
• fortezza
• fortificare
• forza

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Latin

Etymology

From the ablative of fōrs (“chance, luck”).

Adverb

fōrte (not comparable)

1. by chance, accidentally
2. once, once upon a time
3. perhaps, perchance, as luck would have it

Synonyms

• (by chance): fōrtuītō
• (perhaps): fōrsit, fōrsitan, fōrtasse, fōrtassis

Related terms

fōrs fōrsan fōrsit

fōrsitan fōrtasse fōrtassis

fōrtuītō fōrtuītus fōrtūna

References

• Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, 1st edition. (Oxford University Press)

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Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin fortis.

Adjective

forte m. and f. (plural fortes; comparable)

1. Capable of producing great force; strong; forceful.
2. Capable of withstanding great force; strong; durable.
3. Highly stimulating to the senses; intense; extreme; strong.

Inflection

  Inflection of the Portuguese adjective forte

• Adjectives with this inflection include: doente, elegante, prudente.

	singular		plural
	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
positive	forte		fortes
comparative	mais forte		mais fortes
superlative	o mais forte fortíssimo Diminutive: fortinho	a mais forte fortíssima Diminutive: fortinha	os mais fortes fortíssimos Diminutive: fortinhos	as mais fortes fortíssimas Diminutive: fortinhas