English
fortis
Fortis comes from Latin fortis ‘strong’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- ‘to rise, high, hill’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰerǵʰ-‘to rise, high, hill’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*forktis‘strong, powerful’reconstructed
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEforctis
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfortis‘strong’
- Englishearliest quotation 2004same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰerǵʰ-‘to rise, high, hill’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*forktis‘strong, powerful’reconstructed
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEforctis
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfortis‘strong’
- Englishearliest quotation 2004same form
Earliest quotation: 2004, Stephan Gramley, Michael Pätzold: “All vowels, whether short or complex, are relatively shorter…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- ‘to rise, high, hill’
berry, borough, burgess, barrow, burglar, bourgeois, brie, burgh, brahmin, burg, brahmana, bergh, bourguignon, broch, borgo, 17 more
through Old Latin forctis
through Latin fortis ‘strong’
force, comfortable, comfort, fortress, forte, forcible, 12 more
Today it means
adj Relatively strongly articulated, hence voiceless and possibly aspirated; especially as compared to the others of a group of homorganic consonants.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- / fortis