fort

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /fɔːt/, US /fɔːrt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English forte, borrowed from Middle French fort, a noun use of Old French fort “strong, fortified”,^[2][3][4] from Latin fortis (“strong, brave”), from Old Latin forctus, of unknown etymology.^[2][4] It is possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bhergh- (“high, elevated”), whose derivatives refer to hills and hill-forts.^[2][3][5] Hoad adds Italian forte as a source.^[6] It is related to fortify, fortress, force and forte.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A fortified place, a stronghold: the mid-15th century in Etymonline, 1435 in Barnhart, 1557–75 in the OED.^[2][3][7] Barnhart has an earlier forte “courage” probably before 1375.^[3]

Semantic evolution

A strong position in a figurative sense is from 1568,^[7] and hold the fort from the 1590s.^[2] The lair of a wild animal is from 1653.^[7] In British North America and parts of the United States, a trading station, originally fortified, is from 1776.^[7] The verb, to fortify, is from 1559.^[7]

Timeline

• 1435 – a stronghold.^[3]
• 1559 – verb, to fortify.^[7]
• 1568 – figurative.^[7]
• 1590s – hold the fort.^[2]
• 1776 – a trading post.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A strong building or place built to be defended against attack.
2. A permanent army post.
3. hold the fort: to take care of something while others are away.

Related words

• fortress
• fortification
• fortify
• force
• forte
• fortitude

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press