fortaleza

See also: Fortaleza

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician and Old 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

fortaleza sg (plural fortalezas)

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

• “fortaleza” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
• "fortaleza" in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006-2016.
• “fortaleza” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “fortaleza” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “fortaleza” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

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Portuguese

Etymology

From Old 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. (figuratively) 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, (slang) muque

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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) /foɾtaˈlesa/ [foɾ.t̪aˈle.sa]
• (Spain) Rhymes: -eθa
• (Latin America) Rhymes: -esa
• Syllabification: 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