forte

See also: forté and fortë

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed 1640–50; earlier fort < Middle French; disyllabic pronunciation by association with Italian forte, from Latin fortis (“strong”). Doublet of fort and fortis.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔːteɪ/, /ˈfɔːti/, /fɔːt/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfoɹ.teɪ/, /ˈfoɹti/, /foɹt/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)t
• (without the horse–hoarse merger)IPA^(key): /ˈfoːɹt/ or IPA^(key): /ˈfɔː(ɹ)t/

Noun

forte (plural fortes)

1. A strength or talent.

   He writes respectably, but poetry is not his forte.

   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XV, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 115:

     Between ourselves, the country is rather triste, and you have given me positively a sensation; yet my forte is not the Arcadian: however, I will do my petit possible to console you for the loss of le beau Lindor, who was my predecessor.

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

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:forte

Translations

strength or talent

• Bulgarian: си́ла (bg) f (síla), силна страна f (silna strana)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 長處／长处 (zh) (chángchu)

• Faroese: styrki f
• Finnish: vahvuus (fi), vahva puoli
• German: starke Seite f, Stärke (de) f
• Hungarian: erősség (hu)
• Italian: forte (it) m, punto forte m
• Japanese: 強み (ja) (つよみ, tsuyomi)
• Lithuanian: stiprybė (lt) f
• Polish: mocna strona f
• Portuguese: forte (pt) m
• Russian: си́льная сторона́ f (sílʹnaja storoná), си́ла (ru) f (síla)
• Spanish: fuerte (es) m, punto fuerte m
• Swedish: stark sida c, styrka (sv) c

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

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: juuri (fi)
• Hungarian: erős (hu)
• Russian: please add this translation if you can

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Italian forte (“strong”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔː.teɪ/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfoɹ.teɪ/
• (without the horse–hoarse merger)IPA^(key): /ˈfoːɹ.teɪ/ or IPA^(key): /ˈfɔː(ɹ).teɪ/

Adjective

Forte notation.

forte (not comparable)

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, the Unicode character 1D191.)

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

Translations

music: loud

• Bulgarian: силно (bg) (silno)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: forte (fi)
• German: forte (de)
• Hungarian: forte (hu)
• Russian: фо́рте (ru) (fórtɛ)

Adverb

forte (not comparable)

1. (music) Loudly.

   The musicians played the passage forte.

Related terms

• fortepiano
• fortissimo
• fortississimo
• mezzo forte
• pianoforte

Translations

music: loudly

• Bulgarian: форте (forte)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: fortena (fi), kovaa (fi), voimakkaasti (fi)
• German: forte (de)
• Hungarian: forte (hu)
• Russian: форте (ru) (fórtɛ)

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.

Related terms

terms containing the word "forte" (could be from any etymology above, or etymologically unrelated)

• dagesh forte
• eau forte
• peine forte et dure
• piano-forte
• powder-forte

 

See also

• piano

Anagrams

• Foret, fetor, frote, ofter

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈfɒːd̥ə]

Etymology 1

From Old Danish forta, fortæ (“space around a horse”), see fortov (“pavement”).

Noun

forte c (singular definite forten, plural indefinite forter)

1. (historical) open space in a village
2. (historical) enclosed cattle path

Declension

Declension of forte

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	forte	forten	forter	forterne
genitive	fortes	fortens	forters	forternes

Further reading

• “Forte,1” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

Etymology 2

From Italian forte, from Latin fortis (“strong”).

Adverb

forte

1. (music) forte, loudly

   Antonym: piano

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈforte/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: for‧te

Adverb

forte

1. strongly

Related terms

• forta
• forto
• malforta
• perforto

See also

• fortika

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɔʁt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Audio (CAN)

  (file)

Adjective

forte f sg

1. feminine singular of fort

Anagrams

• foret, forêt

Galician

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese forte, from Latin fortis, fortem (“strong”), from Old Latin forctis, fortis, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“to rise, high, hill”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɾte̝/

Adjective

forte m or f (plural fortes)

1. strong

Etymology 2

From praza forte, "strong place".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɾte̝/

Noun

forte m (plural fortes)

1. fortress

References

• “forte” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
• “forte” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
• “forte” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “forte” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.

Italian

Etymology

From Latin fortem, from Old Latin forctis, fortis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“to rise, high, hill”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔr.te/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔrte
• Hyphenation: fòr‧te

Noun

forte m (plural forti)

1. fort, fortress

   Synonyms: fortezza, fortilizio, fortino, bicocca, piazzaforte, roccaforte, ridotta

2. a strength or talent

   La chimica non è il mio forte

Adjective

forte (plural forti, superlative fortissimo)

1. strong

   Sono alto e forte. ― I am tall and strong.

2. (linguistics) stressed

   vocali forti ― stressed vowel

Synonyms

• robusto

Antonyms

• debole

Related terms

• fortemente
• fortezza
• fortificare
• forza

Further reading

• forte in Dizionario di Italiano online - La Repubblica

Latin

Etymology 1

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

Noun

forte

1. ablative singular of fors

Adverb

forte (not comparable)

1. by chance, accidentally

   Synonym: temere

2. once, once upon a time
3. perhaps, perchance
4. as luck would have it
5. as it (just so) happens/happened

Synonyms

• (by chance): fortuītō
• (perhaps): forsit, forsitan, fortasse, fortassis

Related terms

• fors
• forsan
• forsit
• forsitan
• fortasse
• fortassis
• fortuītō
• fortuītus
• fortūna

 

Etymology 2

From fortis.

Adjective

forte

1. nominative/vocative/accusative singular neuter of fortis

References

• “forte”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “forte”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• forte in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• forte in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) quite accidentally, fortuitously: temere et fortuito; forte (et) temere
    

Norman

Adjective

forte f

1. feminine singular of fort

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

forte

1. definite singular of fort
2. plural of fort

Old Galician-Portuguese

Etymology

Inherited from Latin fortem (“strong”), from Old Latin forctis, fortis, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“to rise, high, hill”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɾ.te/

Adjective

forte m or f (plural fortes)

1. strong; powerful (capable of producing great physical force)
2. (of wind, water, etc.) strong; fast moving etc.
3. (of a disease or symptom) strong; severe

Related terms

• fortaleza
• fortemente

Descendants

• Fala: forti
• Galician: forte
• Portuguese: forte

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese forte, from Latin fortis (“strong”), from Old Latin forctis, fortis, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“to rise, high, hill”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔʁ.t͡ʃi/ [ˈfɔh.t͡ʃi]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔʁ.t͡ʃi/ [ˈfɔh.t͡ʃi]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɾ.t͡ʃi/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔʁ.t͡ʃi/ [ˈfɔχ.t͡ʃi]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɻ.te/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɾ.t(ɨ)/

• (Northeast Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔh.tɪ/, /fɔhtʲ/, /fɔʈʲ/

Noun

forte m (plural fortes)

1. strength (pronounced quality), strong suit
2. fortress

Adjective

forte m or f (plural fortes, comparable, comparative mais forte, superlative o mais forte or fortíssimo, diminutive fortinho, augmentative fortão)

1. capable of producing great force; strong; forceful

   O homem forte levantou o carro.

   The strong man lifted the car.

2. capable of withstanding great force; strong; durable
3. highly stimulating to the senses; intense; extreme; strong

   Senti um cheiro muito forte.

   I smelled a very strong odor.

4. (euphemistic) fat

Related terms

• força

Romanian

Etymology

From Italian forte or Latin fortis.

Adjective

forte m or f or n (indeclinable)

1. strong, powerful

Declension

Declension of forte (invariable)

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	forte		forte	forte	forte
	definite	—		—	—	—
genitive/ dative	indefinite	forte		forte	forte	forte
	definite	—		—	—	—

Adverb

forte

1. strongly

Spanish

Adjective

forte (plural fortes)

1. (music) forte

Adverb

forte

1. (music) forte

Noun

forte m (plural fortes)

1. (music) forte

Further reading

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