tend
English has two verbs spelled tend: to incline or move toward, from Old French tendre and Latin tendere “to stretch”, and to look after, shortened from attend.[1][2][3]
Pronunciation
- IPA: /tend/[4]
tend1 incline
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle English tenden,[2][1] borrowed from Old French tendre (“to stretch, hold forth, offer”),[2][1] from Latin tendere (“to stretch, extend; aim, direct oneself”),[2][1][5] from Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to stretch”).[1][6] Latin tendere is cognate with Greek teinein “to stretch” and Sanskrit tanoti “stretches”,[1] and the same root gave Latin tenere “to hold”.[2] It is related to tense, tension and thin.[1][5]
Earliest recorded meaning
To turn the mind to, be intent upon: early 14th century in Etymonline;[2] to move toward, incline: about 1330 in Barnhart,[1] about 1350 in the OED, of persons or things in motion.[7]
Semantic evolution
The literal sense of moving in a direction is now archaic,[7] and the main sense became a disposition or inclination toward a condition or action,[8][3] as in tend to agree.[8] It is also used of a road or course leading in a direction, from 1574.[7]
Timeline
- early 14th century – to turn the mind to.[2]
- c. 1330 – to move toward, incline.[1]
- 1574 – of a road or course.[7]
- 1641 – to have a natural inclination to move.[7]
Modern meaning
Verb
- To be inclined or likely to do something; to have a tendency.
- To move or extend in a certain direction.
Word family
- tendency
tend2 look after
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle English tenden,[1][5] a shortening of atenden, attenden, attend.[1][2][3][9] Middle English tenden was also used as a shortening of intenden, intend.[2][5][3]
Earliest recorded meaning
Probably before 1200 in Barnhart, in the Ancrene Riwle;[1] “to minister to, wait upon” from about 1300 in Etymonline.[2]
Semantic evolution
Its early senses were those of attend and intend: to listen, to attend to, to turn one's attention.[7][3] The general modern sense, to take care of or look after, is from the 15th century:[3] a person from about 1489, and a flock or business from 1515.[7] To foster or cultivate a plant is from 1631.[7] In dialect it is still used for “to attend, wait on” and “to watch, guard”.[10]
Timeline
- a. 1200 – first recorded.[1]
- c. 1300 – to wait upon.[2]
- c. 1489 – to care for a person.[7]
- 1515 – to take charge of a flock or business.[7]
- 1631 – to cultivate a plant.[7]
Modern meaning
Verb
- To look after or take care of: tend the sick, tend a garden.
- To manage or serve at: tend bar.
- tend to: to apply one's attention to.
Word family
- tender
Related words
- tense
- tension
- tent
- intend
- attend
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Watkins, Calvert (2000), "Indo-European Roots", appendix to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
- ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)