forca

See also: fôrca, força, forçà, fórça, and fôrça

Albanian

Noun

forca

1. inflection of forcë:
   1. definite nominative singular
   2. indefinite nominative/accusative plural

Asturian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfoɾka/ [ˈfoɾ.ka]
• Rhymes: -oɾka
• Syllabification: for‧ca

Noun

forca f (plural forques)

1. forked pole

   Synonym: forcáu

2. pitchfork

   Synonyms: forqueta, forcada, forcáu

3. gallows

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈfur.kə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central) [ˈfor.kə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈfoɾ.ka]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [ˈfor.ka]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oɾka
• Hyphenation: for‧ca

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin furca (compare Occitan forca, French fourche, Spanish horca).

Noun

forca f (plural forques)

1. fork, pitchfork (for gardening)
2. gallows

Derived terms

• a la quinta forca
• forc
• forcadura
• forcall
• forcar
• forcó
• forqueta
• forquilla

References

• “forca”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “forca”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “forca” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “forca”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Etymology 2

Verb

forca

1. inflection of forcar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Galician

A Galician vineyard.

Alternative forms

• furca

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese forca (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Late Latin furca (“pitchfork”). Cognate with Portuguese forca and Spanish horca).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɾka/ [ˈfɔɾ.kɐ]
• Rhymes: -ɔɾka
• Hyphenation: for‧ca

Noun

forca f (plural forcas)

1. pole
   • 1339, M. Mar Graña Cid, editor, Las órdenes mendicantes en el obispado de Mondoñedo. El convento de san Martín de Villaoriente (1374-1500), page 127:

     que a deuedes dar chantada de vina et ben fercada et [. . ] con forcas et linoos ao pelongo et latas ao traues

     you should plant vines and have it correctly kept [...] with gallows and strings all along, and beams crosswise

2. gallows pole
3. pitchfork

   Synonym: forcada

4. defile, ravine

Derived terms

• enforcar

Related terms

• Confurco
• Forca
• forcada
• Forcadas
• Forcadela
• Forcadenla
• forcado
• forqueta
• furco
• Furco

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “forca”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “forca”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Santamarina, editor (2006–2013), “forca”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Santamarina, Ernesto X. González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “forca”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “forca”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Italian

Etymology

Inherited from Latin furca.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfor.ka/
• Rhymes: -orka
• Hyphenation: fór‧ca

Noun

forca f (plural forche)

1. fork (instrument used in agriculture and gardening)
2. pitchfork
3. gallows, hanging tree

Derived terms

• biforcare (see there for further derivations)
• forcata
• forchetta (see there for further derivations)
• forchetto
• forcina
• forcino
• forcola
• forcone
• inforcare
• pendaglio da forca
• scampaforca

Related terms

• forcella

Anagrams

• cafro

Neapolitan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin furca.

Pronunciation

• (Naples) IPA^(key): [ˈforkə]
• (Castelmezzano) IPA^(key): [ˈfurkə]

Noun

forca f (plural forche)

1. fork

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *furkō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfor.kɑ/, [ˈforˠ.kɑ]

Noun

forca m

1. fork

Declension

Weak:

	singular	plural
nominative	forca	forcan
accusative	forcan	forcan
genitive	forcan	forcena
dative	forcan	forcum

Related terms

• forcel

Descendants

• Middle English: forke
  • English: fork

Further reading

• Joseph Bosworth; T. Northcote Toller (1898), “forca”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (in Old English), second edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Portuguese

forca

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰerk(ʷ)- / *ǵʰerg(ʷ)-der.?

Latin furca

Old Galician-Portuguese forca

Portuguese forca

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese forca, from Latin furca.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfoʁ.kɐ/ [ˈfoh.kɐ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfoʁ.kɐ/ [ˈfoh.kɐ]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ˈfoɾ.kɐ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈfoʁ.kɐ/ [ˈfoχ.kɐ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ˈfoɻ.kɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈfoɾ.kɐ/

• Rhymes: -oʁkɐ, -oɾkɐ
• Hyphenation: for‧ca

Noun

forca f (plural forcas)

1. gallows (wooden framework on which persons are put to death by hanging)
2. (games) hangman

   Synonym: jogo da forca

Derived terms

• enforcar
• forcado
• forquear
• jogo da forca

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔʁ.kɐ/ [ˈfɔh.kɐ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔʁ.kɐ/ [ˈfɔh.kɐ]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɾ.kɐ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔʁ.kɐ/ [ˈfɔχ.kɐ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɻ.kɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɾ.kɐ/

• Rhymes: -ɔʁkɐ, -ɔɾkɐ
• Hyphenation: for‧ca

Verb

forca

1. inflection of forcar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Etymology 3

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰerk(ʷ)- / *ǵʰerg(ʷ)-der.?

Latin furcabor.

Proto-West Germanic *furkō

Old English forca

Middle English forke

English forkbor.

Portuguese forca

Borrowed from English fork.

Noun

forca f (plural forcas)

1. (Azores) fork (utensil used to eat)

Further reading

• “forca”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “forca”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “forca”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026
• “forca”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Middle English forke (“digging fork”), from Old English forca (“forked instrument used to torture”), from Proto-West Germanic *furkō (“fork”), from Latin furca (“pitchfork”). Doublet of forc.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔrˠxkə/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

forca f (genitive singular fuirce, nominative plural forcan)

1. fork

   Synonyms: greimire, forc

Mutation

Mutation of forca

radical	lenition
forca	fhorca

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian forza, from Late Latin fortia, ultimately from Latin fortis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fôːrt͡sa/
• Hyphenation: for‧ca

Noun

fȏrca f (Cyrillic spelling фо̑рца)

1. (regional) force

   Synonym: sila

2. (regional) strength

   Synonym: snaga

Spanish

Noun

forca f (plural forcas)

1. archaic form of horca

Further reading

• “forca”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026