Picture putting a hard shell around something so that whatever comes at it from outside cannot get through. A town gets a stone wall; the town itself has not changed, but it is now much harder to reach. Every other use of fortify keeps that shape and only changes what is inside the shell: a belief, a person's standing, a tired body, a statement, even a bowl of cereal. Wherever you meet the word, ask two questions: what is being protected, and what is the wall made of?
From the word’s history
The source traces fortify through Late Middle English fortifien and Old French fortifier to Late Latin fortificare, to strengthen or fortify, built on Latin fortis, powerful or strong. So the literal build is strong plus make, and the walls are simply where English put that idea first.
來源把 fortify 一路追到晚期中古英語 fortifien、古法文 fortifier，再到晚期拉丁文 fortificāre（使變強），底下是拉丁文 fortis（強、有力）。所以它字面上的組成就是「強」加「使變成」。城牆只是英文最早把這個概念放進去的地方，不是這個字本來的限制，這也說明了為什麼它後來可以蓋到心情、說法和食物上。
Wiktionary (kaikki extract), fortify verb etymology: From Late Middle English fortifien, from Old French fortifier, from Late Latin fortificare (to strengthen, fortify), from Latin fortis (powerful, strong).
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