Make Your Point > Archived Issues > A FORTIORI
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pronounce
A FORTIORI:
Say it "AH fore dee YORE ee."
(Other ways are correct, too.)
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
If you're down with Latin phrases like a priori ("from what came before") and a posteriori ("from what came after"), I hope you'll welcome into your vocabulary the less familiar--and still italicized--a fortiori, "from (a position of) strength."
You'll recognize its relationship to words like fort, forte, fortress, force, and fort___ ("to strengthen"), all of which trace back to the Latin fortis, meaning "firm, mighty, or strong."
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
In Latin, the full phrase is argumentum a fortiori, meaning "an argument from a stronger (position)."
So, a fortiori literally means "from a stronger (position)."
We use it in English to mean "even more certainly," "even more so," "even truer," "even more logically," "even more convincingly," etc.
In other words, an argument a fortiori is even stronger than another argument you've already accepted. And a point made a fortiori is made even stronger than another point you've already made. When you want to say "even more clearly true," but in a scholarly way, say a fortiori.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
It's most often an adverb:
"If this is this, then, a fortiori, that is that."
"During that lesson, the teacher was bored, and a fortiori, the students."
"The more expensive it is, and a fortiori, the longer it takes, the less I want it."
Sometimes it's an adjective: "an a fortiori argument."
Other forms: none.
how to use it:
Oooh, you guys. The term a fortiori can sound stuffy, scholarly, and self-important in the extreme. I recommend leaving it out of your dinnertime debates and keeping it in your written work, where its obvious relationship to words like "fort" will help your readers know exactly what it means, even when they haven't seen it before.
Let's keep it in italics, unless it gets more common. I don't see that happening soon!
First, let's look at how use it like an adverb. Basically, plop it into your sentence wherever it would make sense to say "all the more so" or "to an even greater degree."
You might stick a fortiori in between your observation and your conclusion, or between your first point and your second, even clearer point. "He claims he has the power to hire and fire anyone and, a fortiori, to order pencils." "They adored the whole meal; a fortiori, they loved the dessert." Here's Gilbert Cinard: "The same criticism applied a fortiori to the English income tax." And here's Lucius M. Sargent: "The city authorities...have full power to prevent all future interments in that cemetery. This is true of a cemetery in the suburbs—a fortiori, of a cemetery in the city."
And to use it like an adjective, talk about a fortiori reasoning, an a fortiori inference, an a fortiori argument, or an a fortiori conclusion.
examples:
"If you ask me how she managed it I can't tell you; it's no business of mine, and a fortiori none of yours."
— Henry James, Lady Barbarina, 1884
"Only the man who has so much to give that he can forget himself in his work can afford to collaborate, to exchange, to contribute. If such views are held about art, it follows that a fortiori whoever holds them must hold similar views about criticism."
— T. S. Eliot, "The Function of Criticism," Criterion, 1923
has this page helped you understand "a fortiori"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "a fortiori" without saying "all the more so" or "at the very least."
try it out:
Think of a good situation, and a related one that's even better.
Or, think of a bad situation, and a related one that's even worse.
Then, fill in the blanks: "(In a certain situation), (something goes very well or very poorly). A fortiori, (in a related situation), (something goes even better or even more poorly)."
Example 1: "You can reduce the strain on your family's budget by finding generic alternatives to the products you buy regularly. A fortiori, sometimes you can oust the products from your home entirely. You don't need Drano or its Walmart equivalent if you have a wrench and some patience."
Example 2: "But even [in southern Japan] the rice crop is very uncertain on account of the September typhoons, which annually bring new wrinkles of anxious care on the weatherbeaten faces of our farmers. So a fortiori rice does not conform to the climate of northern Japan, where the frost arrives often very early and the whole crop is thereby damaged, except a few precocious varieties."
— Katsuro Hara, An Introduction to the History of Japan, 1920
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game this month is Lightning Rhyming Recall!
In each issue this month, see how fast you can recall three words. They’re unrelated in meaning--probably--but they rhyme. To check your answers, scroll to the bottom of the issue. We’ll start out easy and ramp up the difficulty as the month goes on. Enjoy!
Each word below rhymes with ABBREVIATE:
A. (3 syllables, verb) To eliminate the necessity of something is to...
B. (3 syllables, verb) To move in a different direction, away from the expected one, is to...
C. (4 syllables, verb) To make something less burdensome is to...
review this word:
A. EVEN APTER.
B. EVEN LESS SO.
C. EVEN SMALLER.
2. In Scientific American, Martin E. Hellman suggested that _____ a fortiori.
A. "most great [scientific] achievements appear foolish"
B. technology gives us "godlike powers" that would seem supernatural to the ancients
C. our nation has made reckless assumptions, becoming "totally vulnerable" to nuclear attack
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
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Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
If you're down with Latin phrases like a priori ("from what came before") and a posteriori ("from what came after"), I hope you'll welcome into your vocabulary the less familiar--and still italicized--a fortiori, "from (a position of) strength." In Latin, the full phrase is argumentum a fortiori, meaning "an argument from a stronger (position)."
Part of speech:
Oooh, you guys. The term a fortiori can sound stuffy, scholarly, and self-important in the extreme. I recommend leaving it out of your dinnertime debates and keeping it in your written work, where its obvious relationship to words like "fort" will help your readers know exactly what it means, even when they haven't seen it before.
"If you ask me how she managed it I can't tell you; it's no business of mine, and a fortiori none of yours."
Explain the meaning of "a fortiori" without saying "all the more so" or "at the very least."
Think of a good situation, and a related one that's even better.
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
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