different between tend vs tens

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t?nd/
• Rhymes: -?nd

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 the 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 the early 14th c.]

2. To accompany as an assistant or protector; to care for the wants of; to look after; to watch; to guard.
   • 1847, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Threnody

     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.
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):

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English tenden, from Old English tendan (“to kindle, set on fire”) (usually in compounds ?tendan, fortendan, ontendan), from Proto-Germanic *tandijan? (“to kindle”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Danish tænde (“to kindle”), Swedish tända (“to ignite”), Gothic ???????????????????????????? (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, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• tend in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• tend at 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 (first-person singular past tense denda, participle dendë)

1. to stuff, cram, to compress

Related terms

• dynd
• trys

References

French

Verb

tend

1. third-person singular present indicative of tendre

Anagrams

• dent

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?nz

Noun

tens

1. plural of ten

tens pl (plural only)

1. (poker slang) A pair of tens.
2. The second decade of a century: the 1910s, 2010s, etc. The teens, the oneties.

Translations

See also

Anagrams

• ENTs, NEST, Sten, ents, nest, nets, sent, sent., snet

Catalan

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin t?nsus. Compare the inherited doublet tes.

Adjective

tens (feminine tensa, masculine plural tensos, feminine plural tenses)

1. tense, taut

Etymology 2

Verb

tens

1. second-person singular present indicative form of tenir

Further reading

• “tens” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “tens” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “tens” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “tens” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Old French

Etymology

From Latin tempus.

Noun

tens m (oblique plural tens, nominative singular tens, nominative plural tens)

1. Alternative form of tans

Middle English

Etymology

From Old French tens, tans, from Latin tempus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?t?ns/

Noun

tens (plural tenses or tens)

1. (grammar) tense

Descendants

• English: tense

References

• “tens(e, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /?t?j?s/, /?t?j??/
• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /t??j??/

Verb

tens

1. Second-person singular (tu) present indicative of ter

Swedish

Noun

tens

1. indefinite genitive singular of ten

Anagrams

• Sten, sent, sten