"strong" in seven languages
Meaningstrong
Spanish
fuerte
/ˈfweɾte/
inherited
French
fort
/fɔʁ/
inherited
Italian
forte
/ˈfɔrte/
inherited
Portuguese
forte
/ˈfɔhtʃi/
inherited
Romanian
puternic
/puˈternik/
other source · Romanian putere 'power' (spoken Latin *POTĒRE) + -nic
Strong coffee or drink is tare.
Catalan
fort
/fɔrt/
inherited
English
strong
/stɹɔŋ/
native English · Old English strang
English → ItalianstrongforteNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: fort, force, effort, comfort, fortitude.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
FORTEM‘strong, brave’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spanish diphthongized the stressed short Ŏ even in a closed syllable (fuerte); Italian only does that in open syllables, so it keeps forte.
English relatives: fort, force, effort, comfort, fortitude
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEste café es fuerte.
- frCe café est fort.
- itQuesto caffè è forte.
- ptEste café está forte.
- roCafeaua asta e tare.
- caAquest cafè és fort.
- enThis coffee is strong.