a fortiori

English

Etymology

From Latin ā (“from”) and fortiōrī, comparative of fortis (“strong”).

Pronunciation

• (Latinized) IPA^(key): /ˈɑː fɔːɹtɪˈoʊɹiː/
• (US, Eastern New England) IPA^(key): /ˈeɪ fɔɹʃˈjɔˑɹaɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

a fortiori (comparative more a fortiori, superlative most a fortiori)

1. With stronger or greater reason; as a corollary implied by a stronger claim; even more so; all the more so.

Adverb

a fortiori (comparative more a fortiori, superlative most a fortiori)

1. With stronger or greater reason; as a corollary implied by a stronger claim.
   • 1954, Gilbert Ryle, “dilemma vii: Perception”, in Dilemmas: The Tarner Lectures, 1953, The Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, page 103:

     Now starting and stopping cannot themselves have starts or stops, or, a fortiori, middles either.

   • 2011, Mortimer Jerome Adler, How to Prove There Is a God:

     We're bound to accept an a fortiori claim because of our prior acceptance of a weaker application of the same reasoning. Frank can't run to the store in less than five minutes, and the restaurant is several blocks further away than the store. Thus, a fortiori, Frank can't run to the restaurant in less than five minutes.

Translations

Translations

• Armenian: առավել ևս (aṙavel ews)
• Dutch: a fortiori (nl)
• French: a fortiori (fr)
• German: a fortiori (de)
• Greek: και δη (kai di), κατά μείζονα λόγο (katá meízona lógo)
• Hebrew: קַל וָחֹמֶר (he) (qal vaḥómer)
• Hungarian: végképp (hu), különösen (hu), főleg (hu), annál inkább, annál is inkább, még inkább
• Italian: a fortiori (it)
• Korean: 더더군다나 (deodeogundana)
• Latin: a fortiori
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: a fortiori

• Persian: به طریق اولی sg (be tarighe owla)
• Spanish: a fortiori (es)

See also

• a posteriori
• a priori

French

Alternative forms

• à fortiori (misspelling)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a fɔʁ.sjɔ.ʁi/

Adverb

a fortiori

1. a fortiori (A form of argumentation that draws upon existing confidence in a proposition to argue in favor of a second proposition that is held to be implicit in, and even more certain than, the first.)

   Synonym: à plus forte raison

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Medieval Latin ā fortiōrī, ellipsis of ā fortiōrī ratiōne (literally “from a stronger reason”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a(‿f).forˈt͡sjɔ.ri/, /a(‿f).forˈt͡sjo.ri/
  • Rhymes: -ɔri, -ori
• IPA^(key): (proscribed) /a(‿f).forˈtjɔ.ri/, (proscribed) /a(‿f).forˈtjo.ri/
• Hyphenation: a‧for‧tiò‧ri, a‧for‧tió‧ri

Adverb

a fortiori

1. even more so, all the more so

   Synonym: a maggior ragione

See also

• a posteriori
• a priori

 

Latin

Etymology

Ellipsis of ā fortiōrī ratiōne (literally “from a stronger reason”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /aː for.tiˈoː.riː/, [äː fɔrt̪iˈoːriː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /a for.t͡siˈo.ri/, [äː fort̪͡s̪iˈɔːri]

Prepositional phrase

ā fortiōrī

1. (rhetoric, logic, Medieval Latin) a fortiori (as a corollary implied by a stronger claim)
   • 1486, Heinrich Kramer, “Pars prīma, Quaestiō nōna”, in Malleus maleficarum [The hammer of witches]‎^[1]:

     Cuius rei veritas vt magis elucescat queritur. An malefice valeant membra virilia virtute demonum vere et realiter vel solummodo prestigiosa apparitione auferre? et arguitur quod vere et realiter per argumentum a fortiori.

     [Cuius reī vēritās ut magis ēlūcēscat, quaeritur an maleficae valeant membra virīlia virtūte daemonum vērē et reāliter, vel sōlummodo praestīgiōsā appāritiōne auferre? et arguitur quod vērē et reāliter per argūmentum ā fortiōrī.]

     In order to make the truth of this matter clearer, it is asked whether witches can—with the help of devils—really and actually remove the virile members, or can only take them away through an illusion. And that they can really and actually do so is argued a fortiori.

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From both Latin ā (“from, away from, out of”), alternative form of ab (“from, away from, out of, down from”) by apocope (not used before a vowel or h), from Proto-Italic *ab, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó (“off, away”), and from fortiōrī, comparative of fortis (“strong”), from Proto-Italic *forktis, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“to rise, high, hill”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑː.fɔrtɪˈoːrɪ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oːrɪ
• Hyphenation: a‧for‧ti‧o‧ri

Adverb

a fortiori

1. (rhetoric, logic) a fortiori (with stronger or greater reason; as a corollary implied by a stronger claim.)

   begrepet «a fortiori» anvendes i matematiske og logiske argumenter, hvis f.eks. a er større enn b og b større enn c, så er «a fortiori» a større enn c

   the term «a fortiori» is used in mathematical and logical arguments, if e.g. a is greater than b and b greater than c, then «a fortiori» a is greater than c

   • 1933, Samtiden, page 169:

     Norge … har vært forpliktet til ikke å bestride den danske suverenitet over hele Grønland og à fortiori til å avholde sig fra å okkupere en del av landet

     Norway… has been obliged not to contest the Danish sovereignty over the whole of Greenland and a fortiori to refrain from occupying part of the country

   • 1997, Espen Schaanning, Vitenskap som skapt viten, page 298:

     hvis man … kan vise at fengslet faktisk ikke er så gjennomsyret av disiplinformer som Foucault vil ha det til, så faller følgelig også a fortiori påstanden om at samfunnet skulle være disiplinært

     if one… can show that the prison is in fact not as permeated by forms of discipline as Foucault wants it to be, then consequently also falls a fortiori the claim that society should be disciplinary

   • 2008 June 20, Morgenbladet, page 22:

     de kan ikke a fortiori – desto mer – utelukke å finne semantisk innhold også i religiøse ytringer

     they cannot a fortiori - all the more - exclude finding semantic content also in religious utterances

Related terms

• a posteriori (“a posteriori”)
• a priori (“a priori”)

References

• “a_fortiori” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “a fortiori” in Store norske leksikon