Etymograph

English

attendance

Attendance comes from Old French atendance, from atendre ‘to attend, listen’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *téndeti.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*téndeti1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tendō1‘to stretch’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtendō1‘stretch, extend’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEattendo2as attendō‘to pay attention, attend (to), direct the attention towards’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400atendre3‘to attend, listen’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400atendance3
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500attendance3
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1861attendance3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin attendo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old French atendre
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English attendance
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1861, E. J. Guerin, Mountain Charley: “The matter required his immediate attendance.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*téndetiWiktionary, Latin attendoreconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tendōWiktionary, Latin attendo‘to stretch’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtendōWiktionary, Latin attendo‘stretch, extend’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEattendoWiktionary, Old French atendreas attendō‘to pay attention, attend (to), direct the attention towards’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400atendreWiktionary, English attendance‘to attend, listen’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400atendanceWiktionary, English attendance
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500attendanceWiktionary, English attendance
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1861attendanceWiktionary, English attendance. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1861, E. J. Guerin, Mountain Charley: “The matter required his immediate attendance.”

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *tendō ‘to stretch’

pretend, extend, intend, tender, intentional, hypertension, contend, pretense, hypotension, pretension, entendre, portend, 27 more

through Latin tendō ‘stretch, extend’

extensive, extension, extent, intention, tend, tension, tense, contention, tempt, tensor, tensile, extensible, entente, portent, inattention, detent, 41 more

through Latin attendo ‘to pay attention, attend (to), direct the…’

attention, 1 more

Today it means

noun The act of attending; the state of being present; presence.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “attendance”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin attendo, Old French atendre. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *téndeti / attendance

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