Etymograph

English

intend

Intend comes from Latin intendo ‘to stretch out’, and goes back to 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
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEintendo2as intendō‘to stretch out’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400entendre2
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500intenden2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1897intend2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin intendo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English intend
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1897, Winston Churchill: “The stories did not seem to me to touch…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*téndetiWiktionary, Latin intendoreconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tendōWiktionary, Latin intendo‘to stretch’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtendōWiktionary, Latin intendo
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEintendoWiktionary, English intendas intendō‘to stretch out’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400entendreWiktionary, English intend
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500intendenWiktionary, English intend
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1897intendWiktionary, English intend. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1897, Winston Churchill: “The stories did not seem to me to touch…”

The story

Largely displaced native Old English myntan (‘to mean, intend; to think, suppose’), whence dialectal mint.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *tendō ‘to stretch’

hypertension, 34 more

through Latin tendō

attention, extensive, extension, tension, extent, pretend, attendance, extend, tense, tender, contention, tempt, contend, 43 more

through Latin intendo ‘to stretch out’

7 more

through Old French entendre

2 more

Today it means

verb To fix the mind upon (something, or something to be accomplished); be intent upon

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “intend”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin intendo. 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 / intend

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