fortasse

Latin

Alternative forms

• fort., fors. (abbreviation)

Etymology

De Vaan suggests a contraction of forte esse.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [fɔrˈtaːs.sɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [forˈtas.se]

Adverb

fortāsse (not comparable)

1. perhaps, possibly, maybe

   Synonyms: forsit, forsitan, fortāssis, forte

   • c. 70 BC, Marcus Tullius Cicero, translated by Charles Duke Yonge, Divinatio in Caecilium‎^[1], section 40:

     Fortāsse dīcēs: Quid ergō? haec in tē sunt omnia?

     Perhaps you may say: What then? are you then endowed with all these qualifications?

2. approximately
   • c. 70 BC, Marcus Tullius Cicero, translated by Charles Duke Yonge, In Verrem actio secunda, volume 3, section 118:

     […] fīunt per triennium 𐆘 fortāsse D mīlia.

     In the three years he made about five hundred thousand sesterces.

Related terms

• fors
• forsan
• forsit
• forsitan
• fortāssis
• forte
• fortuītō
• fortuītus
• fortūna

References

• “fortasse”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “fortasse”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “fortasse”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, 1st edition. (Oxford University Press)