Word Confusion: Fort versus Forte

Posted November 11, 2021 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

I gotta tell ya, forte is not a fancy way of saying fort.

Sure both fort and forte are about being strong, but after that, they differ widely.

Fort is basically a very strong building built to protect against attackers.

Forte is more varied, from being associated with music, part of a sword to someone who is outstanding at something.

You may also want to explore “Forte versus Forty“.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noir for you from either end.

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Fort	Forte
Fort Bravo by Glavo is under the Pixabay License, via Pixabay.	Chinese New Year, Seattle, by Joe Mabel is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — A crash of cymbals is very much forte.
Part of Grammar:
Noun Plural: forts	Adverb ¹; Adjective ¹; Noun ¹, ², ³ Plural for the noun: fortes
A strong or fortified place occupied by troops and usually surrounded by walls, ditches, and other defensive works A fortress A fortification A permanent army post [Historical] A trading post (so named because such stations were originally fortified)	Adjective & Adverb: [Music] Especially as a direction/instruction, loud or loudly Noun: A passage performed or marked to be performed loudly ¹ A thing at which someone excels ² [Fencing] The stronger part of a sword blade, from the hilt to the middle ³
Examples:
The city was guarded by a ring of forts. The attack on Fort Sumter signaled the start of the Civil War. The day students turned the Science Building into a fort, professors braved the tense face off to negotiate with police. Castles were a medieval fort with the added distinction in that they were the residence of a monarch or noble. Between 1828 and 1867, Fort Union was the most important fur trading post on the Upper Missouri River” (Fort). Hold the fort!	Adjective: The pianissimo lightness in the upper strings against the forte melody is perfectly weighted. Adverb: This is a good piece to work on the many levels of forte playing, especially in an ensemble setting. The figure in this bar should be played forte. The opening number had the performers singing grand forte two feet from you. Noun: And as performance dates drew close, rehearsals became almost terrifying in their propulsive, impelling commitment — pianissimos were scaled to a whisper and fortes forceful and triumphant. Pianissimos were so soft they whispered, the fortes were imbued with a warmth and strength that echoed through the chapel and up to its high, vaulted ceilings. The finest collaborators, however, can create true fortes when necessary while de-emphasizing specific parts of the texture that would otherwise interfere with their musical partner’s efforts.
Derivatives:
Abbreviation: fort. (fortification, fortified) Noun: fortlet	Noun: fortepiano
History of the Word:
Late Middle English from the Old French fort or the Italian forte, from the Latin fortis meaning strong.	Italian, literally strong, loud, from the Latin fortis. Mid-17th century. Originally fort from the French fort (masculine), forte (feminine) meaning strong. It’s from the Latin fortis.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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