adverb
forte
forte (not comparable)
Classical[ˈfɔr.tɛ]Ecclesiastical[ˈfɔr.te]
№ 579 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- not comparableby chance, accidentally
Ita vītāst hominum quasi quom lūdās tesserīs: / sī illud quod maxumē opus est iactū nōn cadit, / illud quod cecidit forte, id arte ut corrigās.
In this way, human life is like when you play with dice: if [the number] most needed does not fall by a throw, instead you must artfully make the best of the one that fell by chance.160 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Adelphoe 739–741 - not comparableonce, once upon a time
- not comparableperhaps, perchance
- not comparableas luck would have it
- not comparableas it (just so) happens/happened
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
cāsū, nōn cōnsiliōforte — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 16
fortē, adv., v. fors, II. B.
Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
forte adv.
abl. of fors, by chance, by accident, casually, accidentally : forte, temere, casu: captivi, pars forte pars consilio oblati, L.: cum casu Puteolos forte venissem: cum cenatum forte apud Vitellios esset, L.: fit forte obviam Mihi Phormio, T.: forte evenit, ut, etc.: erat forte brumae tempus, L.: quam saepe forte temere Eveniunt, quae, etc., T.: nec quicquam raptim aut forte temere egeritis, L.— Once, once on a time : Forte per angustam volpecula rimam Repserat, H.: Ibam forte Viā Sacrā, H.— Perhaps, perchance, peradventure : si forte frater redierit viso, T.: si quis vestrum forte miratur, etc.: si forte eo vestigia ferrent, L.: quod si forte ceciderint: certare sagittā Invitat qui forte velint (i. e. si qui forte velint), V.: nemo saltat sobrius, nisi forte insanit: qui metuo, ne te forte flagitent: metuens, ne forte deprehensus retraheretur, L.: Forte quid expediat communiter quaeritis, H.— Unless indeed, unless to be sure : criminatio dissoluta est, nisi forte exspectatis, ut, etc.: nisi forte me animus fallit, S.
Origins
From the ablative singular of fors (“chance, luck”).