tend

• IPA^(key): /tɛnd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnd

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 kindle”), Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (tandjan, “to kindle”), Icelandic tendra (“to ignite”), German zünden (“to light, ignite, fire”). Related to tinder.

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

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.

• atend, attend

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”).

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 characteristic. [from the mid-14th c.]

   They tend to go out on Saturdays.

   It tends to snow here in winter.

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

• tendency

• tense
• tension
• tent
• intend

• be given to

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

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 the early 14th c.]

   We need to tend to the garden, which has become a mess.

2. To accompany as an assistant or protector; to care for the wants of; to look after; to watch; to guard.

   Shepherds tend their flocks.

   • Emerson

     There's not a sparrow or a wren, / There's not a blade of autumn grain, / Which the four seasons do not tend / And tides of life and increase lend.

3. To wait (upon), as attendants or servants; to serve; to attend.
   • Shakespeare

     Was he not companion with the riotous knights / That tend upon my father?

4. (obsolete) To await; to expect.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

5. (obsolete) To be attentive to; to note carefully; to attend to.
   • Chapman

     Being to descend / A ladder much in height, I did not tend / My way well down.

6. (transitive, nautical) To manage (an anchored vessel) when the tide turns, to prevent it from entangling the cable when swinging.

• (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):

• tend in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• tend in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• tend at OneLook Dictionary Search

• Dent, dent

• dend

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[1].

tend (first-person singular past tense denda, participle dendë)

1. to stuff, cram, to compress

• dynd
• trys

tend

1. third-person singular present indicative of tendre

• dent