1 adj. — British Columbia & US Pacific Northwest, rare
small, little.
Type: 1. Origin — Tenas is a lexical transfer from Chinook Jargon, a pidgin language that arose in the 19th and early 20th centuries in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest to facilitate easy communication between trade communities. It is based on Lower Chinook, Nootka, French and English, with some influence from other Aboriginal languages (see Canadian Encyclopedia reference, s.v. "Chinook Wawa"). Originally from the Nootka word "t'an'as" meaning 'child', tenas in English is most often used as an adjective meaning 'small' (see also OED-3, s.v. "tenas"). In addition to its simple adjectival function (see the 1901 quotation), the term may also be combined with a noun to denote a new but related concept, which is characteristic for pidgin and creole languages. For instance, the compound "tenas musket", refers to a pistol (see the 2004 quotation), while "tenas sun" does not mean 'little sun' but 'early morning' (Lang 2008: 82).
2 n. — Forestry, British Columbia & US Pacific Northwest, historical
the lightest size of steel cable commonly used in early BC lumbering.
Type: 1. Origin — Originating in Chinook Jargon, the adjective tenas was borrowed into BC English (see meaning 1) and underwent conversion into a noun. Tenas, 'the little one', thus came to be used in reference to the smallest possible steel cable. Scarce evidence from written sources suggest the term was mostly used in spoken language or becoming obsolete.
See also: straw-line
- This meaning is taken over from DCHP-1, despite being attested, in our sources, only once.