Tenace

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Stubbornly persistent in holding to a purpose, an old-fashioned usage ; in bridge, a holding of two high cards of a suit with one card of lower rank between them
2. Old-fashioned term meaning dogged or unyielding ; a card game term for a pair of high cards in one suit separated by a single intervening card
3. Archaic word for stubborn and refusing to let go ; a bridge term describing two strong cards of the same suit with a gap of one rank

Etymology: Tenace is a card-game word, and its story runs through Spain before it reaches English. In Spanish, "tenaza" meant a pair of pincers or tongs, a grip that closes on something and holds it fast. The Spanish word traces back to Latin "tenacēs," meaning tenacious or holding firmly, from "teneō," "to hold or grasp." English borrowed the term through French "tenace," so the modern sense of a firm hold came first, and the card meaning grew out of it. In whist and bridge, a tenace is a holding of two cards, one higher and one lower than an opponent's unplayed card, with a gap between them. The player who holds both can often win a trick by leading toward them, because the opponent's card sits in the middle and cannot be captured by one card alone. The name fits the image: the two cards clamp the missing card between them like a pair of tongs.