There are several theories as to the origin of the word Fortnite. At the moment, the developers of the game haven’t made public which of these is the most accurate, or why they came up with that name right away, so we go into the existing theories.
It means 14 nights
The most common theory is that the word Fortnite has its origins in a very similar English word: fortnight. This word has its origins in Old English and means “14 nights“So two weeks.
What is interesting is that the first game mode of Fortnite Save the World war, a mode where you have to survive a zombie apocalypse for 14 days; a more than remarkable coincidence.
strong and night
The English pronunciation of Fortnite is exactly the same as two words:
- Fort (Fortress/Fort)
- Night (Night)
The fact that it is spelled slightly differently than the word (fortnight) above reinforces this argument.
Again, the relationship of these two words to the game is found in Save the World mode, the first game mode released. In this mode we must build forts and all activities take place at night.
That said, even the creators of Fortnite could benefit from this coincidence (that the words fortnight, fort and night associated with the game) may have been inspired to call it that. In this case both theories would be correct.
Knight, protector of the world
The last of the theories, although perhaps less likely, is that the word Fortnite has its origins in the English word for Ritter (knight) Has. The origin of knights, in turn, dates back to a time when the nobility needed people of integrity and strength to defend lands or territories.
In a way, our goal in Fortnite: Save the World is exactly that, to defend the worldso we could consider our character as a knight.
However, it should be noted that in Fortnite we mainly firearms use that did not exist in the Middle Ages, so this theory is probably the least likely of the three.