tenaza

/[t̪eˈnasa]/ noun

The verdict

“tenaza” is an uncommon Spanish word, ranked #90,410 in Spanish word frequency and used as a noun.

#90,410
frequency rank, Spanish
6
letters

Dominant Wiktionary sense: Instrumento de metal, compuesto de dos brazos trabados por un clavillo o eje que permite abrirlos y volverlos a cerrar. Su uso es coger o sujetar fuertemente una cosa, o arrancarla o cortarla.

Key facts for tenaza
PropertyValue
Headwordtenaza
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechNoun
IPA[t̪eˈnasa]
Letters6
Frequency rank#90,410
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “tenaza” sits in Spanish frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). tenaza lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The Spanish entry for tenaza is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [t̪eˈnasa]. Corpus data places it at rank #90,410 in overall Spanish word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

No misspelling variants are generated for tenaza in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable Spanish patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct Spanish form is tenaza, spelled T-E-N-A-Z-A, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Instrumento de metal, compuesto de dos brazos trabados por un clavillo o eje que permite abrirlos y volverlos a cerrar. Su uso es coger o sujetar fuertemente una cosa, o arrancarla o cortarla.
  2. 2
    Pinzas.
  3. 3
    Extremo libre de la viga de los antiguos molinos de aceite.
  4. 4
    Par de cartas con las cuales se hacen precisamente dos bazas en algunos juegos de naipes, esperando quien las tiene que venga el juego en la mano.

Frequency rank: #90,410 in Spanish

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "tenaza"?
"tenaza" is spelled T-E-N-A-Z-A. The IPA pronunciation is [t̪eˈnasa].
What does "tenaza" mean?
As a noun, "tenaza" means: Instrumento de metal, compuesto de dos brazos trabados por un clavillo o eje que permite abrirlos y volverlos a cerrar. Su uso es coger o sujetar fuertemente una cosa, o arrancarla o cortarla.
How do you pronounce "tenaza"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tenaza" is [t̪eˈnasa]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "tenaza" come from?
"tenaza" is a Spanish word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “tenaza”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct Spanish spelling is T-E-N-A-Z-A — every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [t̪eˈnasa] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more Spanish words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Spanish words

Nearby Spanish words

Other entries that begin with the letter T in our Spanish index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.