tenacitas

Forms

tenācitās f (genitive tenācitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin tenāx + -tās, the quality of being tenāx (“holding fast”).^[2][3] The adjective comes from teneō (“to hold”),^[4][5] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *t(e)nē- and Proto-Indo-European *tn-eh₁- (“to hold”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero (81–43 BC) has it first, in the De natura deorum, of animals that seize their food with the firm grip of their claws.^[7][8][4]

Semantic evolution

The word was rare in Classical Latin.^[7] Beside the literal “firm grip”, which Pliny the Elder also uses,^[7][9] Livy applied it to money, in the sense “tight-fistedness, parsimony”.^[7][9] In Christian Latin it came to mean steadfastness: Cyprian uses it for constancy,^[10] and Jerome speaks of a retentive memory.^[8] Medieval writers used it of the tightness of a grip or a bond, of the cohesion of mortar,^[11] and figuratively of firm adherence to God's precepts.^[11] English tenacity comes from it, partly through French.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the grip of animals' claws.^[7][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it for parsimony.^[7][4]
• beginning of 3rd century–258 AD – Cyprian uses it for constancy.^[10][4]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome speaks of the retentiveness of memory.^[8][4]
• early 15th century – English tenacity is recorded, from Old French ténacité and directly from this word.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A firm hold, the quality of gripping or holding on to something, tenacity.^[2][7][9]
2. Tight-fistedness, parsimony, stinginess.^[7][9][10]
3. (Late Latin) Constancy, perseverance; retentiveness (of memory).^[10][8][12]
4. (Medieval Latin) Tightness of attachment; cohesiveness, toughness.^[11]

Related words

• tenāx
• teneō
• English tenacity

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
10. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
12. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson