fortitude

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English fortitude,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Latin fortitūdō (“strength, firmness, courage”),^{[4][2][5][6][7]} partly through Middle French fortitude, which the OED and Barnhart allow for,^{[8][7][9][10]} from fortis (“strong, brave”) with the suffix -tūdō, English -tude.^[6][7][5][3] Fortis, also the source of fort, comes from Old Latin forctus, of unknown origin;^[6] Etymonline mentions Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“high, elevated”) or Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- (“to hold firmly”) as possible roots,^[6] and the American Heritage Dictionary refers it to the first.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Moral strength, as one of the four cardinal virtues: about 1175, in the Bodley homilies, in the Latin form fortitudo explained as "strength or steadfastness".^[2][7] Chaucer's Parson's Tale (about 1390) also uses fortitudo.^[2][7][11] Barnhart dates the form fortitude to 1422,^[7] and the OED's first record, from before 1513, is in William Dunbar.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English fortitude was both a moral virtue and plain physical strength or vigour.^[2][6] The physical sense, used also of the strength of a place, lasted until about 1700;^[8][5] Shakespeare could write of "the fortitude of the place".^[5] Johnson (1755) defined it as courage, bravery and "power of acting or suffering well", quoting Macbeth.^[12] The OED notes that the active sense, courage in facing danger, has since given way to the passive one, firm courage in bearing pain or adversity.^[8] In astrology a fortitude was a position that strengthened a planet's influence (before 1549).^[8] The phrase intestinal fortitude, courage or "guts", is recorded from about 1937.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1175 – moral strength, one of the cardinal virtues, in the Latin form fortitudo.^[2][7]
• 1422 – the form fortitude.^[7][2]
• before 1513 – moral strength or courage, in Dunbar.^[8]
• before 1549 – in astrology, a position that strengthens a planet's influence.^[8]
• 1553 – physical or structural strength (obsolete after 1703).^[8]
• 1755 – Johnson defines it as courage and greatness of mind.^[12]
• c. 1937 – intestinal fortitude, courage, guts.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Strength of mind that lets a person bear pain or adversity with courage; resolute endurance: She faced the long illness with great fortitude.^[13][5][8]
2. In Christian teaching, one of the four cardinal virtues.^[8][10][2]
3. (obsolete, 1553–1703) Physical or structural strength.^[8][5]

Word family

• fortitudinous
• intestinal fortitude

Related words

• forte
• fortify
• fort
• fortress
• force
• comfort
• effort

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
12. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins