tend

English Online Dictionary. What means tend‎? What does tend mean?

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɛnd/
• Rhymes: -ɛnd

Etymology 1

From Middle English *tenden, from Old French tendre (“to stretch, stretch out, hold forth, offer, tender”), from Latin tendere (“to stretch, stretch out, extend, spread out”).

Verb

tend (third-person singular simple present tends, present participle tending, simple past and past participle tended)

1. (law, Old English law) To make a tender of; to offer or tender.
2. (followed by a to-infinitive) To be likely, or probable to do something, or to have a certain habit or leaning. [from mid-14th c.]

3. (intransitive) To contribute to or toward some outcome.

Usage notes

• In sense 2, this is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive.
• See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Derived terms

• tendency

Related terms

• tense
• tension
• tent
• intend

Translations

See also

• be given to

Etymology 2

From Middle English tenden, by apheresis of attenden (“to attend”). More at attend.

Alternative forms

• 'tend (obsolete)

Verb

tend (third-person singular simple present tends, present participle tending, simple past and past participle tended)

1. (with to) To look after (e.g. an ill person.) [from early 14th c.]

2. To accompany as an assistant or protector; to care for the wants of; to look after; to watch; to guard.
3. To wait (upon), as attendants or servants; to serve; to attend.
4. (obsolete) To await; to expect.
5. (obsolete) To be attentive to; to note carefully; to attend to.
6. (transitive, nautical) To manage (an anchored vessel) when the tide turns, to prevent it from entangling the cable when swinging.

Synonyms

• (to look after): care for, minister to, nurse, see to, take care of
• (to accompany as an assistant): guard, look after, watch
• (to wait upon): See also Thesaurus:serve
• (to await): See also Thesaurus:wait for
• (to be attentive to): attend to
• (to manage when the tide turns):

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English tenden, from Old English tendan (“to kindle, set on fire”) (usually in compounds ātendan, fortendan, ontendan), from Proto-Germanic *tandijaną (“to kindle”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Danish tænde (“to kindle”), Swedish tända (“to ignite”), Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (tandjan, “to kindle”), Icelandic tendra (“to ignite”), German zünden (“to light, ignite, fire”). Related to tinder.

Alternative forms

• teend, tende, tind, tinde, teen
• teind, tynd, tynde, tine (Scotland)

Verb

tend (third-person singular simple present tends, present participle tending, simple past and past participle tended)

1. (transitive, now chiefly dialectal) To kindle; ignite; set on fire; light; inflame; burn.

Derived terms

• atend, attend

Translations

Further reading

• “tend”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “tend”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “tend”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Dent, dent

Albanian

Alternative forms

• dend

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *tend-, from Proto-Indo-European *ten-d- (“to distend; draw, stretch (out)”). Cognate to Latin tendo (“to stretch (out), strain”). Present dendë with assimilation of the anlaut.

Verb

tend (aorist denda, participle dendë)

1. to stuff, cram, to compress

Related terms

• dynd
• trys

References

French

Pronunciation

Verb

tend

1. third-person singular present indicative of tendre

Anagrams

• dent

Middle English

Noun

tend

1. Alternative form of tenthe