Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 12, 2023 is: forte \FOR-tay\ noun

Forte refers to something that a person does well, or in other words, a person’s strong point.

// It was no surprise that she got accepted to the performing arts school; dancing was always her forte.

[See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/forte)

Examples:

“Rallying is what [tennis player, Sienna] Watts sees as her forte, especially with her ability to tire out her opponent. ‘I think a lot of people think I’m very fast because I can get to most of the balls,’ Watts said. ‘I try to move people around in hitting short shots followed by longer shots.’” — Matthew Ehler, M Live (Grand Rapids, Michigan), 26 May 2023

Did you know?

[En garde](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/french-in-downton)! When English speakers borrowed the word forte from French in the 17th century, it referred to the strongest part of the blade of a [fencing](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fencing) sword, the section between the middle and the [hilt](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hilt). (The word’s ultimate source is the French adjective fort, meaning “strong.”) Forte was perfectly suited for metaphorical use, and it quickly came to refer to the strong point of a person, in addition to the strong point of a blade. (The word has its counterpoint in [foible](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foible), which comes from an obsolete form of the French word faible, “weak,” and refers both to the weakest part of a sword blade and to a person’s weak point.) There is some controversy over how to correctly pronounce forte. Common choices in American English are “FOR-tay” and “for-TAY,” but many usage commentators recommend matching it to fort, since the e is not pronounced in French. Whichever you choose has no bearing on its meaning, however, and therefore should run you no risk of someone (say, an avenging duelist) commenting: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”