Etymograph

English

intension

Intension comes from Latin intēnsiō ‘straining, effort’, from intēnsus ‘stretched’, 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
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEintendō2‘strain or stretch toward’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEintēnsus2‘stretched’perfect passive participle of intendō
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEintēnsiō2‘straining, effort’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1627intension2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin intendo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English intension
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1627, (please specify the page, or |century=I to X): “Sounds […] likewise do rise and fall with the…”.

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 CEintendōWiktionary, English intension‘strain or stretch toward’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEintēnsusWiktionary, English intension‘stretched’perfect passive participle of intendō
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEintēnsiōWiktionary, English intension‘straining, effort’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1627intensionWiktionary, English intension. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1627, (please specify the page, or |century=I to X): “Sounds […] likewise do rise and fall with the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *tendō ‘to stretch’

pretend, extend, attendance, tender, contend, pretense, portend, inattention, 28 more

through Latin tendō

attention, tend, extent, extensive, extension, tense, tempt, contention, intentional, hypertension, tensor, tensile, extensible, portent, hypotension, detent, pretension, 38 more

through Latin intendō ‘strain or stretch toward’

intention, entente, entendre, 5 more

Today it means

noun Intensity or the act of becoming intense.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “intension”; 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 / intension

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