[syn: feebleness, tenuity]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Tenuity \Te*nu"i*ty\, n. [L. tenuitas, from tenuis thin: cf. F.
t['e]nuit['e]. See Tenuous.]
1. The quality or state of being tenuous; thinness, applied
to a broad substance; slenderness, applied to anything
that is long; as, the tenuity of a leaf; the tenuity of a
hair.
[1913 Webster]
2. Rarily; rareness; thinness, as of a fluid; as, the tenuity
of the air; the tenuity of the blood. --Bacon.
[1913 Webster]
3. Poverty; indigence. [Obs.] --Eikon Basilike.
[1913 Webster]
4. Refinement; delicacy.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
tenuity
n 1: relatively small dimension through an object as opposed to
its length or width; "the tenuity of a hair"; "the thinness
of a rope" [syn: thinness, tenuity, slenderness]
[ant: thickness]
2: a rarified quality; "the tenuity of the upper atmosphere"
[syn: rarity, tenuity, low density]
3: the quality of lacking intensity or substance; "a shrill yet
sweet tenuity of voice"- Nathaniel Hawthorne [syn:
feebleness, tenuity]