Phrase guide

a fortiori

adj · adv · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌeɪ ˌfɔːɹtiˈɔːɹaɪ/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌeɪ ˌfɔːɹtiˈɔːɹi/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌɑː-/
  • General-American: /ˌeɪ ˌfoɹʃiˈoɹˌaɪ/
  • General-American: /ˌeɪ ˌfoɹtiˈoɹˌaɪ/
  • General-American: /ˌeɪ ˌfoɹʃiˈoɹi/
  • General-American: /ˌeɪ ˌfoɹtiˈoɹi/
  • General-American: /ˌɑ-/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɔːɹaɪ
  • rhymes with -ɔːɹi

1

adj

Meaning 1

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: rhetoric

Topics: human-sciences, logic, mathematics, philosophy, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adv

Meaning 2

With stronger or greater reason; as a corollary implied by a stronger claim.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: rhetoric

Topics: human-sciences, logic, mathematics, philosophy, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adverb

Meaning 3

with greater reason; for a still stronger, more certain reason

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • if you are wrong then, a fortiori, so am I

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Medieval Latin ā fortiōrī.

Across languages

Translations

22 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Spanish: a fortiori — Translations
  • Spanish: con mayor razón — Translations
  • Armenian: առավել եւս (aṙavel ews) — Translations
  • Dutch: a fortiori — Translations
  • French: a fortiori — Translations
  • German: a fortiori — Translations
  • Greek: και δη (kai di) — Translations
  • Greek: κατά μείζονα λόγο (katá meízona lógo) — Translations
  • Hebrew: קַל וָחֹמֶר (qal vaḥómer) — Translations
  • Hungarian: végképp — Translations
  • Hungarian: különösen — Translations
  • Hungarian: főleg — Translations
  • Hungarian: annál inkább — Translations
  • Hungarian: annál is inkább — Translations
  • Hungarian: még inkább — Translations
  • Italian: a fortiori — Translations
  • Korean: 더더군다나 (deodeogundana) — Translations
  • Latin: a fortiori — Translations
  • Norwegian Bokmål: a fortiori — Translations
  • Persian: به طریق اولی (be tarighe owla) — Translations
  • Polish: co więcej — Translations
  • Polish: tym bardziej — Translations