Why does the Latin word Lentus have conflicting meanings tough lethargic resistant inactive tenacious slow?
Sometimes translators think that they need to use a variety of other language words to capture all the shades of meaning of the original language word. However, that is not as necessary as they think. In the case of the adjective “lentus, lenta, lentum,” though, the simple basic meaning is “sticky,” but that is generalized to suggest “slow” or “lingering” when “sticky” simply would not convey the proper English meaning in the context. Addendum: Now that you have explained your purpose, I suggest that you use the Latin word that directly meets your need. The Latin adjective “tenax” means “sticking” (in our sense of stick-to-it-iveness), and hence also means, and is the root of our word, “tenacious.” This would give you the name “Tenax Solutions” (even though “tenax” is singular, since the plural “tenaces” does not have the requisite ‘punch’ in English).
