English
tenacious
Tenacious comes from Latin tenāx ‘holding fast, clinging’, from tenēre ‘to hold’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ten- ‘to stretch, extend’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ten-‘to stretch, extend’root as named
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtenēre‘to hold’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtenāx‘holding fast, clinging’
- Englishearliest quotation 1873tenacious
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ten-‘to stretch, extend’root as named
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtenēre‘to hold’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtenāx‘holding fast, clinging’
- Englishearliest quotation 1873tenacious
Earliest quotation: 1873, Henry Morton Stanley, My Kalulu: “The quagmiry road, trodden into tenacious paste by the…”
Formed from -ious
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ten- ‘to stretch, extend’
continue, content, tight, contain, tone, entertainment, ton, tune, retain, maintenance, tennis, continuous, continent, sustain, tender, detention, continuum, tonic, rein, retention, pristine, tenant, detain, pertinent, abstain, abstinence, tenor, tendon, pertain, incontinence, retinue, tantra, tenet, tetanus, tenement, sustenance, maintainer, countenance, abstention, tendinitis, 71 more
through Latin tenēre ‘to hold’
Today it means
adj Clinging to an object or surface; adhesive.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ten- / tenacious