tenaciously

/təˈneɪʃəsli/tuh-NAY-shuh-slee

Meaningin a tenacious way

Common meaning: in a tenacious way (inferred)

tento hold, keep hold ofLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1853 · scan
aciousadjective ending: inclined to, given to
lyadverb ending: in a way

Journey through time

Latintenax‘holding fast’source
Englishtenacious‘not letting go’
Englishformed in English from tenacioustenaciously‘in a tenacious way (inferred)’ · today

Sources & notes

Inferred source: no dictionary we use has an entry for this exact word. Its history is worked out from closely related, listed words in the same family, and we are trusting that link, so bear that in mind. Inferred meaning: in a tenacious way. It can be inferred from any of: tenacious.

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: Formed in English from tenacious + -ly (inferred: this exact word is not listed in our dictionaries).

Roots

teneō, tenuī, tentum Latin “to hold, keep hold of”

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