tender

tender

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of tender in English

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

English

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈtɛn.də(ɹ)/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈtɛn.dɚ/
    • (New York City) IPA(key): /ˈtɛn.də/
  • Rhymes: -ɛndə(ɹ)
  • Hyphenation: ten‧der
  • Homophone: tinder (pin–pen merger)

Etymology 1

From Middle English tender, tendere, from Anglo-Norman tender, Old French tendre, from Latin tener, tenerum (“soft, delicate”).

Adjective

tender (comparative tenderer, superlative tenderest)

  1. Sensitive or painful to the touch.
  2. Easily bruised or injured; not firm or hard; delicate.
  3. Physically weak; not able to endure hardship.
  4. (of food) Soft and easily chewed.
    • 2001, Joey Pantolino (character), The Matrix (movie)
      The Matrix is telling my brain this steak is tender, succulent, and juicy.
  5. Sensible to impression and pain; easily pained.
  6. Fond, loving, gentle, or sweet.
  7. Young and inexperienced.
    • 2001 October 15, Appeals Court of Illinios (Second District) in Appelhans v. McFall:
  8. Adapted to excite feeling or sympathy; expressive of the softer passions; pathetic.
  9. Apt to give pain; causing grief or pain; delicate.
  10. (nautical) Heeling over too easily when under sail; said of a vessel.
  11. (obsolete) Exciting kind concern; dear; precious.
  12. (obsolete) Careful to keep inviolate, or not to injure; used with of.
Synonyms
  • (soft, yielding, delicate): nesh
  • See also Thesaurus:affectionate
Derived terms
Translations

Noun

tender (countable and uncountable, plural tenders)

  1. (obsolete) Care, kind concern, regard.
  2. The inner flight muscle (pectoralis minor) of poultry.

Etymology 2

From Middle English tender, tendur, tendir, tendre, from the adjective (see above).

Adverb

tender (comparative more tender, superlative most tender)

  1. tenderly

Etymology 3

From Middle English tendren, from the adjective (see above).

Verb

tender (third-person singular simple present tenders, present participle tendering, simple past and past participle tendered)

  1. (now rare) To make tender or delicate; to weaken.
    • , vol.I, New York, 2001, p.233:
      To such as are wealthy, live plenteously, at ease, […] these viands are to be forborne, if they be inclined to, or suspect melancholy, as they tender their healths […].
    • c. 1947, Putnam Fadeless Dyes [flyer packaged with granulated dye]:
      Putnam Fadeless Dyes will not injure any material. Boiling water does tender some materials. […] Also, silk fibers are very tender when wet and care should be take not to boil them too vigorously.
  2. (archaic) To feel tenderly towards; to regard fondly or with consideration.

Etymology 4

From tend +‎ -er. Compare attender (“one who attends”).

Noun

tender (plural tenders)

  1. (obsolete) Someone who tends or waits on someone.
  2. (rail transport) A railroad car towed behind a steam engine to carry fuel and water.
  3. (nautical) A naval ship that functions as a mobile base for other ships.
  4. (nautical) A smaller boat used for transportation between a large ship and the shore.
    Synonym: dinghy
  5. (diving) A member of a diving team who assists a diver during a dive but does not themselves go underwater.
  6. Short for water tender (“firefighting apparatus”).
Derived terms
Translations

Verb

tender (third-person singular simple present tenders, present participle tendering, simple past and past participle tendered)

  1. To work on a tender.

Etymology 5

From Middle English tendren, from Old French tendre (“stretch out”).

Noun

tender (plural tenders)

  1. Anything which is offered, proffered, put forth or bid with the expectation of a response, answer, or reply.
  3. A means of payment such as a check or cheque, cash or credit card.
  5. (law) A formal offer to buy or sell something.
  6. Any offer or proposal made for acceptance.
Derived terms
Translations
See also
  • legal tender
  • put out to tender
  • put out for tender

Verb

tender (third-person singular simple present tenders, present participle tendering, simple past and past participle tendered)

  1. (formal) To offer, to give.
    • 1864 November 21, Abraham Lincoln (signed) or John Hay, letter to Mrs. Bixby in Boston
      I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.
  2. To offer a payment, as at sales or auctions.
Synonyms
  • offer
Derived terms
  • tenderable
  • tender something out
Translations

Anagrams

  • enter'd, entred, rented, tendre

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English tender.

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: ten‧der

Noun

tender m (plural tenders, diminutive tendertje n)

  1. (finance) tender
  2. (rail transport) coal-car

Synonyms

  • (finance) aanbesteding

Descendants

  • → Indonesian: tender

Indonesian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈtɛndər]
  • Hyphenation: tèn‧dêr

Etymology 1

From Dutch tender: from English tender, from Middle English tendren, from Old French tendre (“stretch out”), from Latin tendere, present active infinitive of tendō.

Noun

tèndêr (first-person possessive tenderku, second-person possessive tendermu, third-person possessive tendernya)

  1. (trading) tender, anything which is offered, proffered, put forth or bid with the expectation of a response, answer, or reply.
Synonyms
  • sebut harga (Standard Malay)
Derived terms

Compounds

Etymology 2

From Dutch tender, from English tender, tend +‎ -er.

Noun

tèndêr (first-person possessive tenderku, second-person possessive tendermu, third-person possessive tendernya)

  1. (transport) tender: a railroad car towed behind a steam engine to carry fuel and water.

Further reading

  • “tender” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Italian

Verb

tender (apocopated)

  1. Apocopic form of tendere

Middle English

Noun

tender

  1. Alternative form of tinder

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English tender.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈtɛn.dɛr/
  • Rhymes: -ɛndɛr
  • Syllabification: ten‧der

Noun

tender m inan

  1. (rail transport) tender (railroad car towed behind a steam engine to carry fuel)
  2. (nautical) tender (ship functioning as mobile base for other ships)

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

  • tender in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Latin tendere, from Proto-Italic *tendō, from Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to stretch, draw”).

Verb

tender (first-person singular present tendo, first-person singular preterite tendi, past participle tendido)

  1. to tend
  2. to trend
Conjugation
Related terms

Etymology 2

Verb

tender (first-person singular present tendo, first-person singular preterite tendi, past participle tendido)

  1. (informal) Clipping of entender.

Further reading

  • “tender”, in iDicionário Aulete (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2024
  • “tender”, in Dicio – Dicionário Online de Português (in Portuguese), Porto: 7Graus, 2009–2024
  • “tender”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2024
  • “tender”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2024
  • “tender”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2024
  • “tender”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2024

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French tender.

Noun

tender n (plural tendere)

  1. (rail transport) tender

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin tendere, tendō, from Proto-Italic *tendō, from Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to stretch, draw”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /tenˈdeɾ/ [t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]
  • Rhymes: -eɾ
  • Syllabification: ten‧der

Verb

tender (first-person singular present tiendo, first-person singular preterite tendí, past participle tendido)

  1. (intransitive) to tend to, to have a tendency
  2. (transitive) to spread, to stretch out
  3. (transitive) to lay (cable)
  4. (transitive) to make (a bed)
  5. (transitive) to hang up (clothes)
  6. (transitive) to build (a bridge across an expanse)
  7. (transitive) to extend (the hand)
  8. (transitive) to floor (with a punch), to stretch out
  9. (transitive) to cast (a net)
  10. (transitive) to set (a trap)
  11. (transitive) to coat (with plaster)
  12. (reflexive) to lay oneself down

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

  • “tender”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28

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This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.