Etymologically
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forte

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Pronunciation

Forms

forte m or f by sense (plural forti, superlative fortissimo)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin fortis (“strong, brave”).[2][3][4][1] The word is panromance: French fort, Occitan fort, Catalan fort, Spanish fuerte, Portuguese forte and Sardinian forte, and Romanian foarte survives as the adverb “very” (Romanian has ⟨forte⟩ only as a learned word).[3][5][6] The noun meaning “fort” is the adjective used as a noun, from the phrase ⟨luogo forte⟩ “strong place”;[7][8][2] Sabatini–Coletti sees French fort behind it.[7][8][2]

Old Latin had forctis and horctus, so the ancestor was Proto-Italic *forktis.[9][1] Its further origin is unclear: de Vaan weighs a link with farciō (“to stuff”), from PIE ⟨*bʰorg-to-⟩ “stuffed”, against one with the verbs for “to make firm” in Indo-Iranian and Baltic, such as Sanskrit दृढ (dṛḍhá, “firm, solid”), from ⟨*dʰerǵʰ-⟩;[9][3][10] Nocentini and Devoto connect it with the root of fermo.[9][3][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur, of the last quarter of the 12th century, for a person of great physical strength.[11] DELI's earliest dates are Francis of Assisi (before 1226), for something intense or violent, and Guittone d'Arezzo (before 1294), for a strong and enduring person.[2]

Semantic evolution

Already in the 13th century the adjective was used for moral strength and for solid things that resist blows (Bono Giamboni, before 1292), and for strong wine (Uguccione da Lodi).[2] The adverb, “with force; loudly”, is in Dante and Dino Frescobaldi before 1321.[2] As a noun, forte was a fortified place from the late 13th century, first in the feminine and in Marco Polo's Milione in the masculine.[2][12] One's forte, the thing one is best at, is in Lorenzo Magalotti in 1668.[2]

In music forte “loud” is recorded in 1584, and it passed into German (1619), French (1705) and English (1724).[13] English forte “strong point” is a different case: it comes from French fort, and only its final ⟨-e⟩, added in the 18th century, imitates the Italian word.[14] In colloquial modern Italian forte also means “great, terrific” or “funny”: che forte![8][15][16]

Timeline

  • Late 12th century – The Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur use the adjective.[11]
  • Before 1226 – Francis of Assisi uses it for something intense.[2]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses the adverb.[2]
  • Early 14th century – Marco Polo's Milione uses the noun for a fort.[2]
  • 1584 – The musical sense is recorded.[13]
  • 1668 – Lorenzo Magalotti uses the noun for one's strong point.[2]
  • 1724 – English forte is first recorded as a musical term.[13]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. strong, able to make a great physical effort: un ragazzo forte e robusto.[4][7][8]
  2. Strong in character, able to bear hardship: Devi essere forte.[4][7][16]
  3. Solid, resistant, hard-wearing: una corda forte.[4]
  4. Intense, violent: un forte acquazzone, un forte dolore alla schiena.[4][17]
  5. Powerful, having great influence or authority: un governo forte.[4][16]
  6. Good at something, skilled: È forte in matematica.[8][16][15]
  7. Large, considerable: un forte aumento dei prezzi.[8][2]
  8. (of drinks) Strong, high in alcohol.[15][17]
  9. (colloquial) Great, terrific; funny: Che forte tua sorella![8][15]
  10. (linguistics) stressed, (grammar) strong, of a verb or declension.[4][1]

Adverb

  1. Hard, with force: Tieniti forte![2][12]
  2. Loudly: Parla più forte, non ti sento.[2][1]
  3. Fast: andare forte.[4]

Noun

  1. fort, a small fortified military work.[7][8][1]
  2. One's forte, strong point: La cucina non è il suo forte.[1][2]
  3. (music) A passage played loudly.[13][2]

Word family

  • fortezza
  • fortino
  • fortemente
  • fortore
  • contrafforte
  • infortire
  • pianoforte

Usage notes

DEI records an obsolete feminine forte “fate, chance”, a learned word, Latin fors, fortis (compare fortuna), used in the 14th century.[18] Dare man forte “to lend a hand” follows French main forte, recorded from about 1360.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  6. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  7. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  9. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  10. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  11. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  12. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  13. ^ a b c d Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  14. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  15. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  16. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  17. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  18. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1694