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tenacity - 4 dictionary results

te⋅nac⋅i⋅ty

  [tuh-nas-i-tee]
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–noun
the quality or property of being tenacious.
Origin:
1520–30; < L tenācitās equiv. to tenāc- (s. of tenāx) holding fast, deriv. of tenēre to hold + -itās -ity2

Synonyms:
See perseverance.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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te·nac·i·ty   (tə-nās'ĭ-tē)   
n.  The state or quality of being tenacious: "Social styles developed in the 19th century withstand, with sporelike tenacity, all that the present century can throw at them" (Larry McMurty).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Tenacity

Te*nac"i*ty\, n. [L. tenacitas: cf. F. t['e]nacit['e]. See Tenacious.]

1. The quality or state of being tenacious; as, tenacity, or retentiveness, of memory; tenacity, or persistency, of purpose.

2. That quality of bodies which keeps them from parting without considerable force; cohesiveness; the effect of attraction; -- as distinguished from brittleness, fragility, mobility, etc.

3. That quality of bodies which makes them adhere to other bodies; adhesiveness; viscosity. --Holland.

4. (Physics) The greatest longitudinal stress a substance can bear without tearing asunder, -- usually expressed with reference to a unit area of the cross section of the substance, as the number of pounds per square inch, or kilograms per square centimeter, necessary to produce rupture.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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tenacity 
1526, from M.Fr. ténacité (14c.), from L. tenacitas "the act of holding fast," from tenax (gen. tenacis) "tough, holding fast," from tenere "to hold" (see tenet). Tenacious first attested 1607.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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