Wordsmith.org: the magic of words


A.Word.A.Day

About | Media | Search | Contact  


Home

Today's Word

Yesterday's Word

Archives

FAQ



Apr 24, 2012
This week's theme
Words from fencing

This week's words
foible
forte
elan
riposte
touché

Roll the dice
Get a random word from
A.Word.A.Day archives
Discuss
Feedback
RSS/XML
Bookmark and Share Facebook Twitter Digg MySpace Bookmark and Share
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

forte

PRONUNCIATION:
(fort, FOHR-tay)

MEANING:
noun:
1. A strong point: something in which a person excels.
2. The stronger, lower part of a sword blade.

Used in music direction (FOHR-tay)
adjective: 3. Loud.
adverb: 4. In a forceful manner.

ETYMOLOGY:
For 1, 2: From French forte (strong), from Latin fortis (strong). Earliest documented use: before 1648. Also see foible.
For 3, 4: From Italian forte (strong, loud), from Latin fortis (strong). Also see sforzando. Earliest documented use: 1724.

NOTES:
The noun sense of the word was originally pronounced as a single syllable (fort), as in French, however the two-syllable pronunciation (FOHR-tay) has mostly supplanted it. The word is in that limbo state where no matter how you pronounce it, someone may fault you for it.

USAGE:
"Peter Mandelson made blunders in the very dark arts that were supposed to be his forte."
European Redemption; The Economist (London, UK); Oct 11, 2008.

See more usage examples of forte in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs. -Joseph Addison, essayist and poet (1672-1719)

What they say

“Only Anu Garg, the founder of Wordsmith.org, can make word facts this much fun.”
Read more

St. Petersburg Times


More articles

Anu Garg on words

“English never met a word it didn’t like.”

We need your help

Help us continue to spread the magic of words to readers everywhere

Donate

Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise

© 1994-2025 Wordsmith