To strengthen.

Medieval cities were fortified against attack by high walls, and volunteers may fortify a levee against an overflowing river by means of sandbags. Foods can be fortified by adding vitamins, but “fortified wines,” such as sherry and port, have brandy (a “stronger” drink) rather than vitamins added to them. By adopting good exercise habits, you can fortify your body against illness. And fortifying needn't always be physical. An author's reputation may be fortified by the success of his new book, or a prosecutor can fortify a case against a suspect by finding more evidence.

(1) The building of military defenses to protect a place against attack. (2) A structure built to protect a place.

In the Middle Ages, many European cities were entirely enclosed by sturdy walls, with walkways along the top and towers at intervals, designed to make an invasion impossible. A water-filled ditch, or moat, might run alongside the wall for added defense. Such defenses turned the entire city into a *fort*, or *fortress*. Over the centuries, fortifications changed steadily with the development of new weaponry. In World War II, the German fortification of the French coast included antitank barriers, bunkers, minefields, and underwater obstacles, but it wasn't enough to turn back the immense force of the Allied invasion on D-day.

Something that a person does particularly well; one's strong point.

In the Middle Ages, swords were often known to break in battle, so the strongest part of a sword's blade—the part between the handle (or hilt) and the middle of the blade—was given a name, the *forte*. Today a forte is usually a special strength. But no one can agree on how to pronounce it: all three pronunciations shown above are heard frequently. Part of the problem is confusion with the Italian musical term *forte* (always pronounced /fɔːr.teɪ/), meaning “loud.”

Mental strength that allows one to face danger, pain, or hardship with courage.

How many people know that the famous marble lions that guard the steps of the New York Public Library in Manhattan are named Patience and Fortitude? In Latin, the quality of *fortitudo* combines physical strength, vigor, courage, and boldness, but the English *fortitude* usually means simply firmness and steadiness of will, or “backbone.” The philosopher Plato long ago listed four essential human virtues—prudence (i.e., good judgment), justice (i.e., ability to be fair in balancing between one's own interests and others'), temperance (i.e., moderation or restraint), and fortitude, and in Christian tradition these became known as the four “cardinal virtues.”

Brief and condensed, especially in expression or statement.

Many students think that adding unnecessary sentences with long words will make their writing more impressive. But in fact almost every reader values *concision*, since concise writing is usually easier to read, better thought out, and better organized—that is, simply better writing. Words such as *short* don't have the full meaning of *concise*, which usually means not just “brief” but “packed with information.”

To cut out, especially surgically.

*Excise* takes part of its meaning from the prefix *ex-,* “out.” A writer may excise long passages of a novel to reduce it to a reasonable length, or a film director may excise a scene that might give offense. A surgeon may excise a large cancerous tumor, or make a tiny *excision* to examine an organ's tissue. *Excise* is also a noun, meaning a tax paid on something manufactured and sold in the U.S. Much of what consumers pay for tobacco or alcohol products go to cover the excise taxes that the state and federal government charge the manufacturers. But it's only accidental that this noun is spelled like the verb, since it comes from a completely different source.

Impressively direct and decisive.

From its roots, *incise* means basically “to cut into.” So just as a doctor uses a scalpel to make an *incision* in the skin, an incisive remark cuts into the matter at hand. A good analyst makes incisive comments about a news story, cutting through the unimportant details, and a good critic *incisively* identifies a book's strengths and weaknesses.

Exactness and accuracy.

Many of us often use *precision* and *accuracy* as synonyms, but not scientists and engineers. For them, accuracy describes a particular measurement—that is, how close it is to the truth. But precision describes a measurement system —that is, how good it is at giving the same result every time it measures the same thing. This may be why even nonscientists now often speak of “precision instruments” for measuring, “precision landings” made by airplanes, “precision drilling” for natural gas, and so on.