Adjective
fortis (not comparable)
- (phonetics, of a consonant) Strongly articulated, hence voiceless.
- Synonym: tense
- Antonym: lenis
2004, Stephan Gramley, Michael Pätzold, A Survey of Modern English, Routledge, →ISBN, page 80:All vowels, whether short or complex, are relatively shorter when followed by a fortis consonant and relatively longer when followed by a lenis one or, for those where this is possible, when no consonant follows (in free or unchecked syllables).
Etymology 1
From Old Latin forctis, from Proto-Italic *forktis, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“to rise, high, hill”) (> Proto-Indo-European *bʰérǵʰ-ti-s) or Proto-Indo-European *dʰerǵʰ- (“to bind fast, to be firm, strong”); in the latter case, an earlier Proto-Italic form of the word *θorktis can be reconstructed.
- forctis, forctus (Early Latin)
Adjective
fortis (neuter forte, comparative fortior, superlative fortissimus, adverb fortiter); third-declension two-termination adjective
- (physically) strong, powerful
- Synonyms: praevalēns, potis, potēns, validus, strēnuus, ingēns, firmus, compos
- Antonyms: dēbilis, languidus, aeger, fractus, īnfirmus, tenuis, obnoxius, inops
- (figuratively) firm, resolute, steadfast, stout
- Synonyms: fīxus, tenāx, inexōrābilis, obstinātus
- (figuratively) courageous, brave
- Antonym: imbēcillus
8 CE,
Ovid,
Fasti 1.493–494:
- omne solum fortī patria est, ut piscibus aequor,
ut volucrī, vacuō quicquid in orbe patet.- Every land is home to the brave, as to fishes the sea,
as to birds for every void whatsoever in the open world.
- (figuratively) manly, mannish (answering to the Greek ἀνδρεῖος) (clarification of this definition is needed)
Declension
Third-declension two-termination adjective.
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Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Further reading
- “fortis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “fortis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- fortis in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- fortis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- be brave: fortem te praebe
- (ambiguous) quite accidentally, fortuitously: temere et fortuito; forte (et) temere
- (ambiguous) to be brave by nature: animo forti esse
- (ambiguous) personally brave: manu fortis
- De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “fortis”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 236