tendency

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈten.dən.si/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin tendentia (“inclination, leaning”),^[2][3][4] from Latin tendēns, present participle of tendere, to stretch, aim (see tend).^[2][3][5] An earlier, rarer word in the same sense was tendaunce (mid-15th century), from Old French tendance.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An inclination to move in some direction or towards some end: 1628, in Thomas Spencer's Art of Logic.^[2][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Movement towards something is from 1654,^[6] and the drift or aim of a discourse from 1732.^[6] In politics, under French influence, a tendency is a faction within a larger party (1974).^[6] Tendentious, having a deliberate bias, is a 20th-century word.^[4]

Timeline

• mid-15th century – tendaunce.^[3]
• 1628 – tendency.^[2][6]
• 1732 – the drift of a discourse.^[6]
• 1974 – a political faction.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An inclination to behave or develop in a particular way; a propensity.
2. A general movement or trend in a particular direction.
3. A faction within a political party.

Word family

• ambitendency
• countertendency
• tendentious
• central tendency
• measure of central tendency
• tendency tone

Related words

• tend
• tension
• extend

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster