tenace

Forms

tenace (plural tenaces)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin tenāx (“holding fast”), derived from teneō (“to hold”).^[2][3][4][5] The Latin adjective meant “sticky” of things, “stingy”, “retentive” of the memory, and “stubborn”.^[3][6] The inherited form was Old French tenais.^[1] Related French words are ténacité, borrowed from tenācitās (1370), and tenir.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1501, in François Le Roy's Livre de la femme forte, of a memory that holds things well and long.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

At first the French word had nearly the whole range of the Latin one.^[3] The senses “retentive” (of the memory) and “stingy” (already marked old in 1660) died out, as did the concrete sense “sticky, viscous” (1560), used by Paré of phlegm.^[3][7]

It has been said of a person who holds firmly to his opinions since 1530, and of such a person's attitude since 1748 (Montesquieu's obstination tenace).^[2][3] Montaigne applied it to a fault hard to root out (about 1590), the source of the modern sense “persistent”, said of an illness, a prejudice or a hope.^[2][3] On the concrete side it describes a material whose parts hold firmly together (1745), a plant that clings (1800) and a lasting smell.^[3][6]

Timeline

• 1501 – First recorded, of the memory, by François Le Roy.^[2][3]
• 1530 – Used of a stubborn heart in the registers of Limoges.^[2]
• 1557 – The adverb tenacement is first recorded.^[2]
• c. 1590 – Montaigne uses it of a fault that is hard to get rid of.^[2][7]
• 1628 – Paré's works use it for “viscous”, of phlegm.^[2][7]
• 1745 – Said of a metal or thread whose parts hold together.^[2][6]
• 1748 – Montesquieu writes obstination tenace.^[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (dated or technical) Sticking firmly, adhesive; of a smell or stain, lasting a long time.^[8][2]
2. Hard to get rid of, persistent: une toux tenace.^[8][9]
3. Of a person: holding stubbornly to his ideas or aims, tenacious, obstinate.^[8][2]
4. (technical) Of a metal or material: whose parts hold firmly together, resistant to breaking.^[6][7]

Word family

• tenacement

Related words

• ténacité
• tenir
• Latin tenāx

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)