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Balk vs Fortitude - What's the difference?

balk | fortitude |

In archaic|lang=en terms the difference between balk and fortitude

is that balk is (archaic) to pass over or by while fortitude is (archaic) physical strength.

As nouns the difference between balk and fortitude

is that balk is ridge, an unplowed strip of land while fortitude is mental or emotional strength that enables courage in the face of adversity.

As a verb balk

is (archaic) to pass over or by or balk can be to indicate to fishermen, by shouts or signals from shore, the direction taken by the shoals of herring.

balk

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) balke, (etyl) balca, either from or influenced by (etyl) .

Alternative forms

* baulk

Noun

(en noun)
  • ridge, an unplowed strip of land
  • * Fuller
    • Bad ploughmen made balks of such ground.
  • beam, crossbeam
  • A hindrance or disappointment; a check.
  • * South
    • a balk to the confidence of the bold undertaker
  • A sudden and obstinate stop; a failure.
  • (sports) deceptive motion; feint
  • # (baseball) an illegal motion by the pitcher, intended to deceive a runner
  • # (badminton) motion used to deceive an opponent during a serve

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • (archaic) To pass over or by.
  • To omit, miss, or overlook by chance.
  • (obsolete) To miss intentionally; to avoid; to shun; to refuse; to let go by; to shirk.
  • * Evelyn
    • By reason of the contagion then in London, we balked the nns.
  • * Bishop Hall
    • Sick he is, and keeps his bed, and balks his meat.
  • * Drayton
    • Nor doth he any creature balk , / But lays on all he meeteth.
  • To stop, check, block.
  • To stop short and refuse to go on.
    • The horse balked .
  • To refuse suddenly.
  • To disappoint; to frustrate; to foil; to baffle; to thwart.
    • to balk expectation
  • * Byron
    • They shall not balk my entrance.
  • To engage in contradiction; to be in opposition.
  • * Spenser
    • In strifeful terms with him to balk .
  • To leave or make balks in.
    • (Gower)
  • To leave heaped up; to heap up in piles.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights, / Balk'd in their own blood did Sir Walter see.

    Etymology 2

    Probably from (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To indicate to fishermen, by shouts or signals from shore, the direction taken by the shoals of herring.
    • (Webster 1913)

    References

    ----

    fortitude

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Mental or emotional strength that enables courage in the face of adversity.
  • * 1612 , , King Henry VIII , act 3, sc. 2:
    • . . . I am able now, methinks,
    Out of a fortitude of soul I feel,
    To endure more miseries.
  • * , ch. 1:
    • I shall soon have need for all my fortitude , as I am on the point of separation from my own daughter.
  • * 1906 , , The Mirror of the Sea , ch. 21:
    • She may be saved by your efforts, by your resource and fortitude bearing up against the heavy weight of guilt and failure.
  • * 2012 Jan. 30, , " The Strategist," Time :
    • Mitt Romney . . . charges that Obama is an appeaser who apologizes for America, lacks fortitude and is "tentative, indecisive, timid and nuanced."
  • (archaic) Physical strength.
  • * 1604 , , Othello , act 1, sc. 3:
    • DUKE OF VENICE: The Turk with a most mighty preparation makes for
    Cyprus. Othello, the fortitude of the place is best
    known to you.

    Synonyms

    * (mental or emotional strength) inner strength, moxie, resolve