Definition of "forté"

...lamps lighted on the stage; benches betokened mobility; pedal applications were made forté to the piano; basely violated was the repository of the base viol;...

1828, The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, page 106

For variety, few equal him, and his piano and forté passages are, to an attentive ear, peculiarly striking.

1848, David Bogue, George Barclay, Rural Amusements for School-boys During the Holidays

She bravely guided us through the musical scale and urged us to memorize signature notes and musical terms: staccato, legato, forté, pianissimo.

1993, Mary Helen Ponce, Hoyt Street: An Autobiography, page 254

And when marked forté, the notes in a particular passage should all be relatively played at the same loudness. […] Algernon's take on playing "forte" is to play, rather, with "sentiment."

2012, Michael Y. Bennett, Words, Space, and the Audience, page 44

Gurdjieff's main harmonium was a Kasriel model Hero-flutes No. 56 with a range of three and one-quarter octaves and had four stops: trémolo, voix céleste, forté, and flute.

2015, Johanna Petsche, Gurdjieff and Music

Gastronomic renditions of Corsican standards are its forté: the octopus in olive oil and lemon confit is hard to top, and there are plenty of wonderful vegetarian options.

2011, The Rough Guide to France, page 986

Home invasion robberies, credit card and check fraud, and computer chip thefts are known to be Asians [sic] gangs' forté, the guide stated.

2012, Tony Ray Harvey, The Homicidal Handyman of Oak Park: Morris Solomon Jr.‎, page 222

But keeping their clients out of court—and out of the limelight—was the firm's forté.

2012, Cristina Alger, The Darlings‎