forte

Forte derives from the sport of fencing. When English speakers borrowed the word from French in the 17th century, it referred to the strongest part of a sword blade, between the middle and the hilt. It is therefore unsurprising that forte eventually developed an extended metaphorical sense for a person's strong point. (Incidentally, forte has its counterpoint in the word foible, meaning both the weakest part of a sword blade and a person's weak point.) There is some controversy over how to correctly pronounce forte. Common choices in American English are "FOR-tay" and "for-TAY," but many usage commentators recommend rhyming it with fort. In French, it would be written le fort and pronounced more similar to English for. You can take your choice, knowing that someone somewhere will dislike whichever variant you choose. All, however, are standard.