forte 1
/fawrt, fohrt/ or, for 1, /fawr"tay/ , n.
1. a strong point, as of a person; that in which one excels: I don't know what her forte is, but it's not music.
2. the stronger part of a sword blade, between the middle and the hilt (opposed to foible ).
[ 1640-50; earlier fort 2 ]
Syn. 1. talent, skill, excellence, strength, specialty; knack, bent.
Pronunciation . In the sense of a person's strong point ( He draws well, but sculpture is his forte ), the older and historical pronunciation of FORTE is the one-syllable /fawrt/ or /fohrt/ . The word is derived from the French word fort "strong". A two-syllable pronunciation /fawr"tay/ is increasingly heard, especially from younger educated speakers, perhaps owing to confusion with the musical term forte, pronounced in English as /fawr"tay/ and in Italian as /fawrdd"te/ . Both the one- and two-syllable pronunciations of FORTE are now considered standard.
forte 2
/fawr"tay/ ; It. /fawrdd"te/ , Music.
adj.
1. (a direction) loud; with force (opposed to piano ).
adv.
2. (a direction) loudly.
n.
3. a passage that is loud and forcible, or is intended to be so.
[ 1715-25; fortis strong ]