different between bend vs span

English

Etymology

From Middle English benden, from Old English bendan (“to bind or bend (a bow), fetter, restrain”), from Proto-Germanic *bandijan? (“to bend”), from Proto-Indo-European *b?end?- (“to bind, tie”). Cognate with Middle High German benden (“to fetter”), Danish bænde (“to bend”), Norwegian bende (“to bend”), Faroese benda (“to bend, inflect”), Icelandic benda (“to bend”). More at band.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ?nd, IPA^(key): /b?nd/
• (pin–pen merger) IPA^(key): /b?nd/
• Rhymes: -?nd

Verb

bend (third-person singular simple present bends, present participle bending, simple past and past participle bent or (archaic) bended)

1. (transitive) To cause (something) to change its shape into a curve, by physical force, chemical action, or any other means.

2. (intransitive) To become curved.

3. (transitive) To cause to change direction.
4. (intransitive) To change direction.

5. (intransitive) To be inclined; to direct itself.
6. (intransitive, usually with "down") To stoop.

7. (intransitive) To bow in prayer, or in token of submission.
   • 1798, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

     Each to his great Father bends.

8. (transitive) To force to submit.
9. (intransitive) To submit.

10. (transitive) To apply to a task or purpose.
11. (intransitive) To apply oneself to a task or purpose.

12. (transitive) To adapt or interpret to for a purpose or beneficiary.
13. (transitive, nautical) To tie, as in securing a line to a cleat; to shackle a chain to an anchor; make fast.

14. (transitive, music) To smoothly change the pitch of a note.

15. (intransitive, nautical) To swing the body when rowing.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

bend (plural bends)

1. A curve.
   • 1968, Johnny Cash, Folsom Prison Blues

     I hear the train a comin'/It's rolling round the bend

2. Any of the various knots which join the ends of two lines.
3. (in the plural, medicine, underwater diving, with the) A severe condition caused by excessively quick decompression, causing bubbles of nitrogen to form in the blood; decompression sickness.

4. (heraldry) One of the honourable ordinaries formed by two diagonal lines drawn from the dexter chief to the sinister base; it generally occupies a fifth part of the shield if uncharged, but if charged one third.
5. (obsolete) Turn; purpose; inclination; ends.
   • 1608, John Fletcher, The Faithful Shepherdess, Act 1, Scene 3

     Farewell, poor swain; thou art not for my bend.

6. In the leather trade, the best quality of sole leather; a butt; sometimes, half a butt cut lengthwise.
7. (mining) Hard, indurated clay; bind.
8. (nautical, in the plural) The thickest and strongest planks in a ship's sides, more generally called wales, which have the beams, knees, and futtocks bolted to them.
9. (nautical, in the plural) The frames or ribs that form the ship's body from the keel to the top of the sides.

   the midship bends

10. (music) A glissando, or glide between one pitch and another.

Derived terms

Translations

Related terms

• bent

References

• The Manual of Heraldry, Fifth Edition, by Anonymous, London, 1862, online at [1]

Anagrams

• D. Neb.

Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *band (“drop”). Compare Phrygian ???? (bedu, “water”), Sanskrit ?????? (bindú, “drop”), Middle Irish banna, baina (“drop”) and possibly Latin F?ns Bandusiae.

Noun

bend m

1. pond, water reservoir
2. idle or provocative words
3. servant, henchman

Related terms

• përbindësh

Northern Kurdish

Noun

bend ?

1. slave

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From benda, bende (“to bend”).

Noun

bend n (definite singular bendet, indefinite plural bend, definite plural benda)

1. a bend
2. a bent position
3. a butt on a thick rope

Participle

bend (neuter bendt, definite singular and plural bende)

1. past participle of benda and bende

Verb

bend

1. imperative of benda and bende

References

• “bend” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Norse

Participle

bend

1. inflection of bendr:
   1. strong feminine nominative singular
   2. strong neuter nominative/accusative plural

Verb

bend

1. second-person singular active imperative of benda

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from English bend.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /?b?d??/

Noun

bend m (plural bends)

1. (music, electric guitar) bend (change in pitch produced by bending a string)

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From English band.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bênd/

Noun

b?nd m (Cyrillic spelling ?????)

1. (music) band (group of musicians)

Declension

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English spanne, from Old English spann, from Proto-Germanic *spann? (“span, handbreadth”). Cognate with Dutch span, spanne, German Spanne. The sense “pair of horses” is probably from Old English ?espan, ?espann (“a joining; a fastening together; clasp; yoke”), from Proto-West Germanic [Term?]. Cognate with Dutch gespan, German Gespann.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American)
  • IPA^(key): /spæn/
• • Rhymes: -æn
• (Australian English)
  • IPA^(key): /spæ?n/
  • Rhymes: -æ?n

Noun

span (plural spans)

1. The space from the thumb to the end of the little finger when extended; nine inches; an eighth of a fathom.
2. (by extension) A small space or a brief portion of time.
   • 1699, George Farquhar, The Constant Couple

     Life's but a span; I'll every inch enjoy.

   • 2007. Zerzan, John. Silence.

     The unsilent present is a time of evaporating attention spans,

3. A portion of something by length; a subsequence.
   • 2004, Robert Harris, Robert Warner, The Definitive Guide to SWT and JFace (page 759)

     For example, in OpenOffice.org or Microsoft Word, each span of text can have a style that defines key characteristics about the text: • What font it uses • Whether it's normal, bolded, italicized, […]

4. (architecture, construction) The spread or extent of an arch or between its abutments, or of a beam, girder, truss, roof, bridge, or the like, between supports.
5. (architecture, construction) The length of a cable, wire, rope, chain between two consecutive supports.
6. (nautical) A rope having its ends made fast so that a purchase can be hooked to the bight; also, a rope made fast in the center so that both ends can be used.
7. (US, Canada) A pair of horses or other animals driven together; usually, such a pair of horses when similar in color, form, and action.
8. (mathematics) The space of all linear combinations of something.
9. (computing) The time required to execute a parallel algorithm on an infinite number of processors, i.e. the shortest distance across a directed acyclic graph representing the computation steps.

Derived terms

• attention span
• eyespan
• memory span
• spanless

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English spannen, from Old English spannan, from Proto-Germanic *spannan? (“to stretch, span”). Cognate with German spannen, Dutch spannen.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) and GenAm
  • IPA^(key): /spæn/
  • Rhymes: -æn
• AusE
  • IPA^(key): /spæ?n/
  • Rhymes: -æ?n

Verb

span (third-person singular simple present spans, present participle spanning, simple past and past participle spanned)

1. (transitive) To extend through the distance between or across.

   The suspension bridge spanned the canyon.

   • 1856-1858, William H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip II

     The rivers were spanned by arches of solid masonry.

2. (transitive) To extend through (a time period).

   The parking lot spans three acres.

   The novel spans three centuries.

3. (transitive) To measure by the span of the hand with the fingers extended, or with the fingers encompassing the object.

   to span a space or distance; to span a cylinder
4. (mathematics) To generate an entire space by means of linear combinations.
5. (intransitive, US, dated) To be matched, as horses.
6. (transitive) To fetter, as a horse; to hobble.

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English span, from Old English spann, from Proto-Germanic *spann, first and third person singular preterit indicative of Proto-Germanic *spinnan? (“to spin”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian, General American) IPA^(key): /spæn/
  • Rhymes: -æn

Verb

span

1. (archaic, now nonstandard) simple past tense of spin

Anagrams

• ANPs, NPAS, NSPA, PANs, PNAS, PNAs, Pans, SNAP, naps, pans, snap

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sp?n/
• Hyphenation: span
• Rhymes: -?n

Etymology 1

From older gespan.

Noun

span n (plural spannen, diminutive spannetje n)

1. A span, a team (pair or larger team of draught animals). [from 17th c.]
2. A cart or instrument with a team of draught animals. [from 18th c.]
3. A romantic pair, couple. [from 19th c.]

Derived terms

• driespan
• tweespan
• vierspan
• zesspan

Descendants

• Afrikaans: span

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

span

1. first-person singular present indicative of spannen
2. imperative of spannen

Anagrams

• snap

Middle English

Noun

span

1. Alternative form of spanne

Sranan Tongo

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch gespannen.

Noun

span

1. tense

West Frisian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

span n (plural spannen, diminutive spantsje)

1. span, team (pair of draught animals in a team)
2. pair, couple

Further reading

• “span (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011