English
tense
Tense comes from Old French tens, from Latin tempus ‘a time’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *temp- ‘to stretch, string’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*temp-‘to stretch, string’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tempos‘stretch’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtempus‘a time’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400tens
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tens
- Englishearliest quotation 1530tense
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*temp-‘to stretch, string’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tempos‘stretch’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtempus‘a time’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400tens
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tens
- Englishearliest quotation 1530tense
Earliest quotation: 1530, Iohan Palſgrave, The Introduction: “In ſo moche that if any verbe be of…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *temp- ‘to stretch, string’
antenna, contemplate, contemplation, templar, contemporaneously, 19 more
through Proto-Italic *tempos ‘stretch’
temperature, temporal, temperate, temperament, temperance, tamper, contemporaneous, tempera, 13 more
through Latin tempus ‘a time’
contemporary, temporary, temple, temper, template, tempo, tempestuous, matin, tempura, 13 more
Another origin of tense
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*téndetireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tendō‘to stretch’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtendō‘stretch’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtēnsus‘Stretched, stretched out, extended, distended’one form of past participle of tendō
- Englishtodaytense
Today it means
noun The property of indicating the point in time at which an action or state of being occurs or exists.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *temp- / tense