fortean
For·te·an/ˈfɔɹ.ti.ən/noun, adjective
fortean is a noun meaning “Alternative form of Fortean” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled F-O-R-T-E-A-N and has 3 syllables (For·te·an), and it appears about once in every 34 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of fortean is forteans.
What does fortean mean?
noun
- 1
Alternative form of Fortean.
noun
- 1
A follower or admirer of Charles Fort.
- 2
One who investigates anomalous phenomena.
adjective
- 1
Of or pertaining to anomalous phenomena.
Ufology is a somewhat Fortean subject.
- 2
Of or pertaining to Charles Fort.
adjective
- 1
Alternative form of Fortean.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce fortean?
- UK /ˈfɔː.tɪ.ən/
- US /ˈfɔɹ.ti.ən/
- US /-ɾi.ən/
Fortean has 3 syllables, split For·te·an in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-Fortean.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of fortean
- forteans plural
- more fortean comparative
- most fortean superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is fortean?
Fortean appears about once in every 34 million words in written English, the 178,202nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Where does fortean come from?
From Fort + -ean, named after Charles Hoy Fort (1874–1932), an American writer and investigator of anomalous phenomena. The word was coined by American journalist Ben Hecht (1894–1964) in a review of Fort’s book The Book of the Damned (1919) in the Chicago Daily News in 1920.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).