Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1600-1700
Language: Latin
Origin: tenax, from tenere 'to hold'

tenacious

 adjective
     
te‧na‧cious
1 determined to do something and unwilling to stop trying even when the situation becomes difficult:
a tenacious negotiator
2 tenacious beliefs, ideas etc continue to have a lot of influence for a long time:
a tenacious religious tradition that is still practised in Shinto temples
—tenaciously adverb
—tenacity noun [uncountable]
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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