Tend Definition

tĕnd
tended, tends
verb
tended, tends
To take care of; minister to; watch over; look after; attend to.
To tend plants or animals, to tend the sick.
Webster's New World
To be in charge of or at work at; manage or operate.
To tend a store.
Webster's New World
To be disposed or inclined.
Tends toward exaggeration.
American Heritage
To have an inclination, tendency, bias, etc. to do something; incline.
Tending to overeat.
Webster's New World
To pay attention; attend.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
  • be predisposed to
  • be disposed toward
  • favor
  • be in the habit of
  • serve to
  • result in
  • make-for
  • direct
  • verge on
  • incline to
  • gravitate toward
  • be apt to
  • be prejudiced in favor of
  • be biased in favor of
  • point
Antonyms:
idiom
tend on
  • to wait upon; serve
Webster's New World

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Tend

  • tend on

Origin of Tend

  • From Middle English tenden, from Old English tendan (“to kindle, set on fire") (usually in compounds ātendan, fortendan, ontendan), from Proto-Germanic *tandijanÄ… (“to kindle"), of unknown origin. Cognate with Danish tænde (“to kindle"), Swedish tända (“to kindle"), Gothic [script?] (tandjan, “to kindle"), Icelandic tendra (“to ignite"), German zünden (“to light, ignite, fire"). Related to tinder.

    From Wiktionary

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

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English tenden from Old French tendre from Latin tendere ten- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English tenden short for attenden to wait on attend

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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