attentive

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English attentif,^[2][3] borrowed from Middle French atentif, now attentif,^{[3][4][5][6][7]} formed from Old French atente (“expectation; act of attending”) and the suffix -if.^[3][4][6] The noun atente is the feminine of an assumed past participle of atendre (“to attend, direct one's attention to”),^[3][4][7] from Latin attendō (“to give heed to”), the source of attend.^[8] Klein derives the French adjective from Vulgar Latin *attenditus.^[9] The OED suggests that it was altered from the earlier ententif after attentus and attentiō.^[5] Dictionary.com notes that the first English record is Scots.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Attentive, diligent, devout: about 1449, in Pecock, of "the ouerreder and attentijf studier" of books.^[2] Etymonline dates the sense "heedful, observant" to the late 14th century, implied in attentively,^[8] which the OED records from 1382 in the Wycliffite Bible.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The OED explains that the at- form appeared first in the adverb, originally a variant of intentively reshaped after Latin.^[5] The sense of looking after the needs and wishes of others, and so being polite and courteous, dates from the early 16th century in Etymonline, and in the OED from about 1570, in Turberville.^[8][5][6] Johnson (1755) defined it as "heedful; regardful; full of attention", deriving it from attent.^[11] From 1890 it was also used in psychology of attention as a mental process.^[5][6]

Timeline

• c. 1449 – attentive, diligent; devout.^[2]
• c. 1570 – careful of the comfort and wishes of others; courteous.^[5][6]
• 1577 – heedful, observant; applying one's mind steadily.^[5]
• 1890 – psychology, relating to attention.^[5][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Paying close attention; listening or watching carefully: The attentive pupils spotted the error on the board.^[12][3][5]
2. Careful to look after the needs and comfort of others; considerate, courteous: The hotel staff were attentive to every request.^[12][3][5]
3. (psychology) Relating to attention as a mental process.^[5][6]

Word family

• attentively
• attentiveness
• overattentive
• unattentive

Related words

• attend
• attention
• attent
• intent

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins