tendency English · revision 10808

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1628|origins=la-med tendentia}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈten.dən.si/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-med|tendentia|t=inclination, leaning]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from Latin tendēns, present participle of tendere, to stretch, aim (see [[tend]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) An earlier, rarer word in the same sense was tendaunce (mid-15th century), from Old French tendance.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An inclination to move in some direction or towards some end: 1628, in Thomas Spencer's Art of Logic.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Movement towards something is from 1654,^(OED 1989) and the drift or aim of a discourse from 1732.^(OED 1989) In politics, under French influence, a tendency is a faction within a larger party (1974).^(OED 1989) ''Tendentious'', having a deliberate bias, is a 20th-century word.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * mid-15th century – tendaunce.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1628 – tendency.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1732 – the drift of a discourse.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1974 – a political faction.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An inclination to behave or develop in a particular way; a [[propensity]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A general movement or trend in a particular direction.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A faction within a political party.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ambitendency]]

+ * [[countertendency]]

+ * [[tendentious]]

+ * [[central tendency]]

+ * [[measure of central tendency]]

+ * [[tendency tone]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tend]]

+ * [[tension]]

+ * [[extend]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}