Italian superlative of 'forte' (strong/loud), from Latin 'fortis' — making musical loudness etymologically equivalent to strength.
A dynamic marking in music indicating that a passage should be played very loudly. Abbreviated as 'ff.'
From Italian 'fortissimo,' the absolute superlative of 'forte' (strong, loud), from Latin 'fortis' (strong, brave, powerful). In music, 'forte' means 'loud' because loudness is the 'strength' of sound. The superlative 'fortissimo' (very strong/loud) uses the same '-issimo' suffix as 'pianissimo.' Latin
The musical 'forte' and the English expression 'that's not my forte' come from the same Latin root ('fortis,' strong) but are pronounced differently. The musical term is Italian: 'FOR-tay' (two syllables). The 'strong point' sense came through French, where 'fort' is one syllable. Purists insist that 'forte