forte

¹

[fawrt, fohrt, fawr-tey]

noun

1. a person's strong suit, or most highly developed characteristic, talent, or skill; something that one excels in.

   I don't know what her forte is, but it's not music.

   Synonyms: bent, knack, proficiency, specialty, strong suit, strength, excellence, skill, talent

2. the stronger part of a sword blade, between the middle and the hilt (foible ).

forte

²

[fawr-tey, fawr-te]

adjective

1. (a direction in a musical score or part) loud; with force (piano ).

adverb

1. (a direction in a musical score or part) loudly.

noun

1. a passage that is loud and played with force or is marked to be so. f

forte

¹

/ ˈfɔːteɪ, fɔːt /

noun

1. something at which a person excels; strong point

   cooking is my forte

2. fencing the stronger section of a sword blade, between the hilt and the middle Compare foible

forte

²

/ ˈfɔːtɪ /

adjective

1. f. loud or loudly

noun

1. a loud passage in music

forte

1. A musical direction meaning “to be performed loudly”; the opposite of piano.

Pronunciation Note

In the sense of a person's strong suit ( He draws well, but sculpture is his real forte ), the older and historical pronunciation of forte is the one-syllable or , pronounced as the English word fort. The word is derived from the French word fort, meaning “strong.” A two-syllable pronunciation is increasingly heard, especially from younger educated speakers, perhaps owing to confusion with the musical term forte, pronounced in English as and in Italian as . Both the one- and two-syllable pronunciations of forte are now considered standard.

The common keyboard instrument the pianoforte (“piano” for short) got its name because it could play both soft and loud notes.

Word History and Origins

Origin of forte¹

First recorded in 1640–50; earlier fort, from Middle French noun use of adjective fort “strong, powerful”; fort; disyllabic pronunciation by association with forte ²

Origin of forte²

1715–25; < Italian < Latin fortis strong

Word History and Origins

Origin of forte¹

C17: from French fort , from fort (adj) strong, from Latin fortis

Origin of forte²

C18: from Italian, from Latin fortis strong