Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - forte

 I. noun  Etymology: French fort, from fort, adjective, strong  Date: circa 1648  1. the part of a sword or foil blade that is between the middle and the hilt and that is the strongest part of the blade  2. one's strong point Usage:  In ~ we have a word derived from French that in its “strong point” sense has no entirely satisfactory pronunciation. Usage writers have denigrated ?fo?r-?ta and ?fo?r-te because they reflect the influence of the Italian-derived 2~. Their recommended pronunciation ?fo?rt, however, does not exactly reflect French either: the French would write the word le fort and would rhyme it with English for. So you can take your choice, knowing that someone somewhere will dislike whichever variant you choose. All are standard, however. In British English ?fo?-?ta and ?fo?t predominate; ?fo?r-?ta and fo?r-?ta are probably the most frequent pronunciations in American English.  II. adverb or adjective  Etymology: Italian, from ~ strong, from Latin fortis  Date: circa 1724 loud — used as a direction in music  III. noun  Date: 1759 a tone or passage played ~