Fortis

//ˈfɔː(ɹ)tɪs// adj, name, noun

adj, name, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A fortis consonant.
Adjective
  1. 1
    Strongly articulated, hence voiceless. not-comparable

    "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)."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    plural of Forti form-of, plural

Synonyms

All synonyms
tense

Antonyms

All antonyms
lenis

Example

More examples

"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

Learned borrowing from Latin fortis (“strong”). Doublet of fort and forte.

Related phrases

pre-fortis

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.