fortaleza

See also: Fortaleza

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician and Old Galician-Portuguese fortaleza (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Provençal and Old Occitan fortalessa or Old French forteresce, from Late Latin fortalitia (“fortress”), from Latin fortis (“strong”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /foɾtaˈleθa/

Noun

1. fortress
   • 1325, Ermelindo Portela Silva (ed.), La región del obispado de Tuy en los siglos XII a XV. Santiago: Tip. El Eco Franciscano, page 399:

     Et mando a meu ffillo Martin affonsi en melloramento sobre os outros ffillos por rrazon do terço a mina casa forte de Peteellos eno alto e eno baixo con seu cural e con suas ffortalezas commo esta

     I devise to my son Martín Afonso, as a betterment over the rest of my children, a third of my stronghold of Petelos, up and down, with its yard and with its fortresses, as it is now

2. strength; resilience; fortitude

Related terms

• casa forte
• forte

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “fortaleza”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• "fortaleza" in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006-2016.
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “fortaleza”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “fortaleza”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “fortaleza”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

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Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese fortaleza, from Provençal and Old Occitan fortalessa, from Late Latin fortalitia (“fortress”), from Latin fortis (“strong”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /foʁ.taˈle.zɐ/ [foh.taˈle.zɐ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /foʁ.taˈle.zɐ/ [foh.taˈle.zɐ]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /foɾ.taˈle.zɐ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /foʁ.taˈle.zɐ/ [foχ.taˈle.zɐ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /foɻ.taˈle.za/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /fuɾ.tɐˈle.zɐ/

• Homophone: Fortaleza
• Hyphenation: for‧ta‧le‧za

Noun

fortaleza f (plural fortalezas)

1. fortress; fortification; stronghold (a large place built to withstand attacks)

   Synonyms: fortificação, forte

2. (figurative) bulwark; stronghold (something that offers protection, especially in a psychological sense)

   Synonym: baluarte

3. fortitude; inner strength (emotional strength in the face of adversity)

   Synonyms: força, firmeza

4. strength (the quality of being physically strong)

   Synonyms: força, muque (slang)

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Spanish

Etymology

From Provençal and Old Occitan fortalessa, from Late Latin fortalitia (“fortress”), from Latin fortis (“strong”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /foɾtaˈleθa/ [foɾ.t̪aˈle.θa]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /foɾtaˈlesa/ [foɾ.t̪aˈle.sa]
• Rhymes: -eθa
• Hyphenation: for‧ta‧le‧za

Noun

fortaleza f (plural fortalezas)

1. fortitude
2. strength

   Synonym: fuerza

3. firmness
4. fortress

Related terms

• fortalecer
• fuerte

Further reading

• “fortaleza”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014