Where does “tenacious” come from?
Tenacious comes from Latin tenax, meaning holding or grasping, derived from Latin teneo, to hold, which traces to Proto-Indo-European ten-, to stretch or hold.
tenacious (English): Clinging to an object or surface; adhesive;...
Definitions
- Clinging to an object or surface; adhesive;...
Ancestry of “tenacious”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Latin | tenāx | — |
| 2 | Latin | -āx | — |
| 3 | Latin | -ium | Suffix used to form abstract nouns, sometimes... |
| 4 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |
Words derived from “tenacious”