Dictionary: TEN'ANT-RY – TEN'DIN-OUS




  1. The body of tenants; as, the tenantry of a manor or a kingdom. Paley.
  2. Tenancy. [Not in use.] Ridley.

TENCH, n. [Fr. tenche; Sp. tenca; L. tinca.]

A fish of the genus Cyprinus, found in ponds and rivers.

TEND, v.i. [L. tendo; Fr. tendre; It. tendere; formed on L. teneo, Gr. τεινω, Sans. tan.]

  1. To move is a certain direction. Having overheard two gentlemen tending toward that sight. Wotton. Here Dardanus was burn, and hither tends. Dryden.
  2. To be directed to any end or purpose; to aim at; to have or give a leaning. The laws of our religion tend to the universal happiness of mankind. Tillotson.
  3. To contribute. Our petitions, if granted, might tend to our destruction. Hammond.
  4. [for attend.] To attend; to wait as attendants or servants. He tends upon my father. [Colloquial.] Shak.
  5. To attend as something inseparable. [Not in use.] Shak.
  6. To wait; to expect. [Not in use.] Shak
  7. To swing round an anchor, as a ship. Mar. Dict.

TEND, v.t. [contracted from attend, L. attendo; ad and tendo, to stretch, W. tannu. Attention denotes a straining of the mind.]

  1. To watch; to guard; to accompany as an assistant or protector. And flaming ministers to watch and tend / Their earthly charge. Milton. There is a pleasure in that simplicity, in beholding princes tending their flocks. Pope.
  2. To hold and take care of; as, to tend a child.
  3. To be attentive to. Unsuck'd of lamb or kid that tend their play. Milton.


  1. Attendance; state of expectation.
  2. Persons attending. Shak.
  3. Act of waiting; attendance. Shak.
  4. Care; act of tending. Milton. [This word is entirely obsolete in all its senses. We now use Attendance.]

TEND'ED, pp.

Attended; taken care of; nursed; as an infant, or a sick person.

TEND'EN-CY, n. [from tend; L. tendens, tending.]

Drift; direction or course toward any place, object, effect, or result. Read such books only as have a good moral tendency. Mild language has a tendency to allay irritation. Writings of this kind, if conducted with candor, have a more particular tendency to the good of their country. Addison.

TEN'DER, a. [Fr. tendre; It. tenero; Port. tênro; Ir. and Gaelic, tin; W. tyner; L. tener; allied probably to thin, L. tenuis, W. tenau; Ar. وَدَنَ wadana, to be soft or thin. Class Dn, No. 12, and see No. 25.]

  1. Soft; easily impressed, broken, bruised, or injured; not firm or hard; as, tender plants; tender flesh; tender grapes. Deut. xxxii. Cant. ii.
  2. Very sensible to impression and pain; easily pained. Our bodies are not naturally more tender than our faces. L'Estrange.
  3. Delicate; effeminate; not hardy or able to endure hardship. The tender and delicate woman among you. Deut. xxviii.
  4. Weak; feeble; as, tender age. Gen. xxxiii.
  5. Young and carefully educated. Prov. iv.
  6. Susceptible of the softer passions, as love, compassion, kindness; compassionate; pitiful; easily affected by the distresses of another, or anxious for another's good; as, the tender kindness of the church; a tender heart.
  7. Compassionate; easily excited to pity, forgiveness, or favor. The Lord is pitiful, and of tender mercy. James v. Luke i.
  8. Exciting kind concern. I love Valentine; / His life's as tender to me as his soul. Shak.
  9. Expressive of the softer passions; as, a tender strain.
  10. Careful to save inviolate, or not to injure; with of. Be tender of your neighbor's reputation. The civil authority should be tender of the honor of God and religion. Tillotson.
  11. Gentle; mild; unwilling to pain. You that are so tender o'er his follies, / Will never do him good. Shak.
  12. Apt to give pain; as, that is a tender subject; things that are tender and unpleasing. Bacon.
  13. Adapted to excite feeling or sympathy; pathetic; as, tender expressions; tender expostulations.

TEND'ER, n. [from tend.]

  1. One that attends or takes care of; a nurse.
  2. A small vessel employed to attend a larger one for supplying her with provisions and other stores, or to convey intelligence and the like. Mar. Dict.
  3. [Fr. tendre, to reach.] In law, an offer, either of money to pay a debt, or of service to be performed, in order to save a penalty or forfeiture, which would be incurred by non-payment or non-performance; as, the tender of rent due, or of the amount of a note or bond with interest. To constitute a legal tender, such money must be offered as the law prescribes; the offer of bank notes is not a legal tender. So also the tender must be at the time and place where the rent or debt ought to be paid, and it must be to the full amount due. There is also a tender of issue in pleadings, a tender of an oath, &c.
  4. Any offer for acceptance. The gentleman made me a tender of his services.
  5. The thing offered. This money is not a legal tender.
  6. Regard; kind concern. [Not in use.] Shak.

TEND'ER, v.t. [Fr. tendre, to reach or stretch out; L. tendo.]

  1. To offer in words; or to exhibit or present for acceptance. All conditions, all minds tender down / Their service to lord Tinion. Shak.
  2. To hold; to esteem. Tender yourself more dearly. [Not in use.] Shak.
  3. To offer in payment or satisfaction of a demand, for saving a penalty or forfeiture; as, to tender the amount of rent or debt.


Offered for acceptance.

TEN'DER-HEART-ED, a. [tender and heart.]

  1. Having great sensibility; susceptible of impressions or influence. When Rehoboam was young and tender-hearted, and could not withstand them. 2 Chron. xiii.
  2. Very susceptible of the softer passions of love, pity, or kindness. Be ye kind one to another, and tender-hearted. Eph. iv.


With tender affection.


Susceptibility of the softer passions.


Offering for acceptance.


  1. A fondling; one made tender by too much kindness.
  2. The first horns of a deer.


A tender part of flesh in the hind quarter of beef, the Psoas muscle.

TEN'DER-LY, adv.

  1. With tenderness; mildly; gently; softly; in a manner not to injure or give pain. Brutus tenderly reproves. Pope.
  2. Kindly; with pity or affection.


Having a tender mouth.


  1. The state of being tender or easily broken, bruised, or injured; softness; brittleness; as, the tenderness of a thread; the tenderness of flesh.
  2. The state of being easily hurt; soreness; as, the tenderness of flesh when bruised or inflamed.
  3. Susceptibility of the softer passions; sensibility. Well we know your tenderness of heart. Shak.
  4. Kind attention; anxiety for the good of another, or to save him from pain. Bacon.
  5. Scrupulousness; caution; extreme care or concern not to give or to commit offense; as, tenderness of conscience. South.
  6. Cautious care to preserve or not to injure; as, a tenderness of reputation. Gov. of the Tongue.
  7. Softness of expression; pathos.

TEN'DERS, n. [plur.]

Proposals for performing a service.


The act of attending.


In seamen's language, a swinging round or movement of a ship upon her anchor.

TEND'ING, ppr.

Having a certain direction; taking care of.

TEN'DIN-OUS, a. [Fr. tendineux; It. tendinoso; from L. tendines, tendons, from tendo, to stretch.]

  1. Pertaining to a tendon; partaking of the nature of tendons.
  2. Full of tendons; sinewy; as, nervous and tendinous parts. Wiseman.