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"fort" in seven languages

Meaningfort

Spanish

fuerte

/ˈfweɾte/

masc.inherited

The adjective fuerte 'strong' used as a noun; fortaleza is a larger fortress.

French

fort

/fɔʁ/

masc.inherited

Italian

forte

/ˈfɔrte/

masc.inherited

Also fortezza for a larger fortress.

Portuguese

forte

/ˈfɔhtʃi/

masc.inherited

Romanian

fort

/fort/

neut.borrowed · French fort

Cetate 'citadel' is the older native word for a fortress.

Catalan

fort

/fɔrt/

masc.inherited

English

fort

/fɔɹt/

from Latin/French · French fort, Italian forte

English → ItalianfortforteCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

FORTEM‘strong’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

A fort is simply 'a strong (place)': the adjective FORTEM turned into a noun. Spanish breaks the open o into ue, as in fuerte 'strong'.

English relatives: force, fortress, fortify, comfort, effort

Sound laws at work

Stressed short O breaks into ue / uo / euFinal vowels

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esEl viejo fuerte domina el puerto.
  • frLe vieux fort domine le port.
  • itIl vecchio forte domina il porto.
  • ptO velho forte domina o porto.
  • roVechiul fort domină portul.
  • caEl vell fort domina el port.
  • enThe old fort overlooks the harbor.

More words from the same Latin

More in Town & city

All Town & city words