English
tender
Tender comes from Latin tener ‘soft, delicate’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEteneras tener‘soft, delicate’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400tendre
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tender
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEteneras tener‘soft, delicate’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400tendre
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tender
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591same form
Earliest quotation: c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “I love Valentine, Whose life's as tender to me…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ten- ‘to stretch, draw’
continue, tight, content, contain, tone, obtain, ton, tune, maintenance, continuous, retain, entertainment, sustain, continent, tennis, retention, continuum, detention, tonic, rein, pristine, tenant, abstain, abstinence, pertinent, detain, tenor, incontinence, tenacity, tenacious, pertain, sustenance, tetanus, retinue, tantra, countenance, tendon, tenet, tenement, maintainer, 72 more
Another origin of tender
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tundrą‘tinder’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*tundrreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150tynder‘tinder, fuel’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tinderas tender‘tinder, firestarters’
- Englishtodaytender
Another origin of tender
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*téndetireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tendō‘to stretch’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtendōas tendere‘to stretch, stretch out, distend, extend’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400tendre‘stretch out’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tendren
- Englishtodaytender
Today it means
adj Sensitive or painful to the touch.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin tener / tender