pertinacity

C2+ Topic:Describing People

US /ˌpɜrtɪˈnæsɪti/ UK /ˌpɜːtɪˈnæsɪti/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
stubborn persistence or determination

She pursued the case with a pertinacity that wore down her opponents.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · stubborn persistence or... tenacity persistence doggedness obstinacy stubbornness determination resolve perseverance

Opposites

irresolution flexibilityyieldingness

Word family

Related forms pertinacious tenacious tenacity

Etymology

From Middle French pertinacite, from Latin pertinax ('holding fast, tenacious'), from per- ('thoroughly') + tenax ('holding fast'), from tenere ('to hold').

pertinax Latin tenere Latin *ten- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing People Word Formation & Derivatives

# pertinacity

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˌpɜrtɪˈnæsɪti
**IPA (UK):** ˌpɜːtɪˈnæsɪti

## Meanings
1. stubborn persistence or determination

## Examples
- She pursued the case with a pertinacity that wore down her opponents.

## Synonyms
- tenacity
- persistence
- doggedness
- obstinacy
- stubbornness
- determination
- resolve
- perseverance

## Antonyms
- irresolution
- flexibility
- yieldingness

## Related Forms
- pertinacious
- tenacious
- tenacity

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: pertinax
- Root: tenere
- Root: *ten-

## Etymology
From Middle French pertinacite, from Latin pertinax ('holding fast, tenacious'), from per- ('thoroughly') + tenax ('holding fast'), from tenere ('to hold').

## AI Etymology
Pertinacity is from Middle French pertinacite, from Latin pertinax ('holding fast, tenacious'), from per- ('thoroughly') + tenax ('holding fast'), from tenere ('to hold'). Important recorded forms include pertinax (Latin), tenere (Latin), and *ten- (Proto-Indo-European). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense remains close to that composition, with the parts narrowing into a single lexical item. In current use it covers stubborn persistence or determination. The wider family includes related words such as pertinacious, tenacious, and tenacity.

## Topics
- Describing People
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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pertinacity

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