fort

Forms

fort n (plural forturi)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French fort, the French noun for a fortified place.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Marcu and Maneca add Italian forte as a second model.^[6] The French noun is the adjective meaning “strong” used as a noun.^[7][8] The adjective comes from Latin fortis (“strong, brave”).^[9][8] Gabinschi places the word in one family with foarte, which Romanian inherited from the same Latin word, and with forte.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 has fortŭ “fortified place”.^[10] MDA2's first record is in Alecsandri's poems, in the edition of 1875.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed military: a fortification, part of a system of defences around a city, a pass or a strategic line.^[3][6] DEX and MDA2 describe it more narrowly as a masonry work with a polygonal outline.^[3][2] Scriban adds a figurative sense: a subject someone is good at, as in algebra e fortul lui “algebra is his strong point”.^[7]

Timeline

• 1870 – fortŭ in Costinescu's dictionary.^[10]
• 1875 – in Alecsandri's poems.^[2]
• 1875 – in Antonescu's Romanian–French dictionary.^[11]
• 1886 – Barcianu glosses it as German Fort.^[12]
• 1939 – Scriban records the figurative “strong point”.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A fort: a masonry fortification, usually polygonal, forming part of a system of defences that protects an important centre or a strategic line.^[3][2][1]

Related words

• foarte
• forte

Usage notes

Scriban's figurative use, fortul lui “his strong point”, follows French.^[7] A regional word of Moldova spelled the same means a ring of a stove plate.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 931
3. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 407
4. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. fort
5. ^ Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria, p. s.v. fort
6. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. fort
7. ^ a b c d Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 522
8. ^ a b c Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 105
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci
11. ^ Antonescu, G. M. (1875), Dictionariu romanu-francesu, Bucuresci: Typografia Curții (Lucrători Associați)
12. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic
13. ^ Stati, Vasile (2003), Dicționar moldovenesc-românesc, Chișinău, p. 106