tendre

Forms

tendre (feminine tendra, masculine and feminine plural tendres)^[1] The medieval texts also write tenre, in the court records of Cocentaina (1269–1290) and in Pere Marsili's chronicle of 1314.^[2][3] The DCVB records pronunciations both with and without the /d/, such as [ˈtɛndɾə] and [ˈtɛnrə].^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Catalan tendre, earlier tenre, which is inherited from Latin tener (“soft, tender, delicate”).^[5][6][7][1] The /d/ between /n/ and /r/ is a later insertion: the older form ⟨tenre⟩ lacks it.^[1][2]

The same Latin word is Occitan tèndre, French tendre, Spanish tierno, Portuguese terno, Italian tenero and Romanian tânăr (“young”).^[8][1][9]

The origin of the Latin adjective is disputed.^[1] De Vaan derives it from *terenos, with cognates in Ancient Greek τέρην (térēn, “soft, delicate”) and Sanskrit तरुण (táruṇa, “young, tender”), from an Indo-European adjective meaning “tender”, *ter-.^[10][1] The older explanation, which Wiktionary's Catalan entry follows, relates it to teneō (“to hold”) and tendō (“to stretch”), from *ten- (“to stretch, draw”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Coromines takes the first record from Ramon Llull's Blaquerna: an archdeacon's mule carries hens that had been killed in advance so that they would be pus tendres “more tender” at dinner.^[5][11] Llull also uses the word of feelings, of a heart that is tendre and quick to obey, in the Llibre de contemplació.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is physical: food that is easily chewed, such as Eiximenis's polls tendres “tender chickens” and the faves tendres of Jaume Roig's Spill.^[5] The word was then applied to people and animals not yet hardened by age.^[5] Bernat Metge writes of a tendra donzella in 1381, and the Tirant lo Blanc of a hero's tendra joventut “tender youth”.^[12]

Labèrnia's dictionary of 1839 gives the senses “soft”, “fresh, new, recent”, “of childhood”, “easy to chew” and “not yet ripe”, as of green beans.^[13] The DCVB adds rarer uses: the small knob at the top of a spindle, and a point of the coast where the waves strike hard.^[4]

Derivatives appear from the 15th century: tendror “tenderness” and tendrer are in Roig's Spill (1460), and entendrir “to move, to soften” is of the 15th century.^[6] Bruguera doubts that tendrum (1371) is a derivative of tendre at all, because of its unusual suffix.^[6]

Timeline

• 1269–1290 – tenre in the court records of Cocentaina.^[2]
• 13th century – Ramon Llull writes tendre in the Blaquerna and the Llibre de contemplació.^[5][11]
• 1314 – Pere Marsili's chronicle has tenra.^[3]
• 1324 – tendre in the cookbook Llibre de Sent Soví.^[14]
• 1381 – Bernat Metge writes of a tendra donzella.^[12]
• 1460 – the Tirant lo Blanc speaks of tendra joventut.^[12]
• 1839 – Labèrnia's dictionary lists the senses “soft”, “fresh” and “young”.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. tender, easily chewed or cut (of food): Aquest llom ha quedat molt tendre.^[7][15][1]
2. Not yet hardened, still soft: El guix de la paret encara és tendre.^[7][15]
3. Young, new, not yet fully grown: Els brots de la vinya encara són tendres.^[7][4]
4. (figurative) Easily moved by feelings, especially by affection or love: És un home tendre que plora amb facilitat.^[7][15]
5. (figurative) Lovingly affectionate: Li va escriure una carta molt tendra.^[7][4]

Word family

• entendrir
• entendriment
• entendridor
• tendral
• tendrament
• tendrejar
• tendrer
• tendresa
• tendror

Related words

• tendrum
• Latin tener
• Occitan tèndre
• Spanish tierno

Usage notes

A separate verb tendre “to stretch, to draw (a bow)”, from Latin tendere, appears in Llull and in an inventory of 1408 that lists a crossbow;^[1] Labèrnia marks it as obsolete.^{[4][11][12][13]}

In Alguerès, tendre is the verb tenir “to have, to hold”, moved into another conjugation.^[4][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. tenre
3. ^ a b Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. tenre
4. ^ a b c d e f Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. tendre
5. ^ a b c d e Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 8, 411
6. ^ a b c Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 890
7. ^ a b c d e f Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. tendre
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 487
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c d Nou glossari general lul·lià (NGGL), Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull, Universitat de Barcelona, https://nggl.ub.edu, p. s.v. tendre
12. ^ a b c d Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. tendre
13. ^ a b c Labèrnia, Pere (1839–1840), Diccionari de la llengua catalana ab la correspondencia castellana y llatina, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. tendre
14. ^ Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. tendre
15. ^ a b c Institut d'Estudis Catalans, Diccionari essencial de la llengua catalana (DEIEC), online, https://deiec.iec.cat, p. s.v. tendre