Wordwyrt

tenable

/ˈtenəbəl/TEH-nuh-buhl
/ˈtɛnəbəl/TEH-nuh-buhl

Meaningto hold

Common meaning: able to be defended

Journey through time

  1. Latintenere‘to hold’source
  2. Frenchtenir‘to hold’source
  3. Frenchtenablesource
  4. Englishmeaning shiftsto hold → able to be defendedtenable‘able to be defended’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin tenere ‘to hold’.

Roots

Related words

tenement

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