# tend

Pronunciation: say "TEND" /tɛnd/

## Verb

1. To be likely to do something, or to have a particular habit or leaning.
   - Simple: To be likely to do something, or to usually act in a certain way.
   - _Prices tend to rise when demand outpaces supply._
   - _Younger drivers tend to underestimate how long the trip will take._
2. To care for a thing such as a garden, livestock, a fire, or a machine so that it stays healthy or in working order.
   - Simple: To take care of plants, animals, or things so they stay in good shape.
   - _Volunteers tend the community garden throughout the summer._
   - _On the night shift, two technicians tended the furnaces and kept them running._
3. To contribute toward a particular outcome.
   - Simple: To help bring about a certain result.
   - _These reforms tend toward greater fairness across the system._
   - _The witnesses' accounts all tend to support the theory that the fire began in the kitchen._
4. To turn one's attention to a task, matter, or need and deal with it; used with to.
   - Simple: To spend time dealing with a job, problem, or need, as in "tend to your work".
   - _The manager left the meeting early to tend to an urgent problem with a supplier._
   - _Before leaving on vacation, he tended to every unpaid bill on his desk._
5. To look after someone, such as a person who is ill.
   - Simple: To care for someone who is sick or needs help.
   - _He tended the wounded soldiers for weeks after the battle._
   - _Volunteers tend those too frail to care for themselves._
6. To go with someone as a helper or protector and look after their needs.
   - Simple: To stay with someone to help and protect them and to look after what they need.
   - _A loyal squire tended the knight throughout the long journey._
   - _Maids tend the guests and see to their every comfort._

## Verb

7. To be attentive to something, noting it carefully; to attend to it. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To pay close attention to something and note it carefully.
8. To await something; to expect it. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To wait for something or expect it to come.

## Other meanings

- (verb) To manage an anchored vessel as the tide turns, keeping it from tangling its cable while it swings.
- (verb) To formally offer or present something, especially a payment, in fulfillment of a legal obligation.
- (verb) To kindle or set something on fire; to light it.

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 3** — Latin "tendere" ("to stretch, extend, spread out") became Old French "tendre" ("to stretch out, hold forth, offer"), which Middle English borrowed as "tenden."
**Meanings 2, 4–8** — From Middle English "tenden," formed by dropping the first syllable of "attenden" ("to attend").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/tend (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).