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Forte, pronounced “fort,” means one’s strength. It …

Forte, pronounced “fort,” means one’s strength. It comes from a fencing term describing the blade or shaft of the epee. The part from the base or handle to the midpoint is the forte, or strong part of the blade. The flimsier part from the midpoint to the tip is the foible, or weak part of the blade. We use forte (fort) to describe our strong characteristics just as we describe the strong part of the epee. By the way, our foible is also the weak part of our character. Foible also gives us feeble.

Forte, pronounced “for-tay,” is a musical term meaning to play loudly. It is the opposite of piano which means to play softly. The musical instrument, the piano, got its name from being able to play both softly and loudly; it was called the piano forte, later shortened to piano. These terms like so many in the music lexicon are Italian. Before the piano other keyboard instruments like the harpsichord could only play at one level of volume.

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