Etymograph

English

intentional

Intentional comes from Latin intentiō ‘strain, tension’, from intendō ‘to stretch out’, 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 CEintendō1‘to stretch out’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEintentiō2‘strain, tension’
  6. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500intentiōnālis2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1892intentional2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin intentio
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English intentional
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1892, Samuel Rolles Driver, A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew: “It should, however, be borne in mind that even…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*téndetiWiktionary, Latin intentioreconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tendōWiktionary, Latin intentio‘to stretch’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtendōWiktionary, Latin intentio
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEintendōWiktionary, Latin intentio‘to stretch out’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEintentiōWiktionary, English intentional‘strain, tension’
  6. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500intentiōnālisWiktionary, English intentional
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1892intentionalWiktionary, English intentional. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1892, Samuel Rolles Driver, A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew: “It should, however, be borne in mind that even…”

Equivalent to intention + -al

Proto-Indo-European *téndeti

…

Latin intentiō ‘strain, tension’

Old French entencion

Middle French entention

Middle English entencioun ‘Intent’

English intention

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *tendō ‘to stretch’

pretend, extend, attendance, tender, hypertension, contend, pretense, hypotension, portend, pretension, inattention, 29 more

through Latin tendō

attention, extensive, tend, extent, extension, tense, tension, tempt, contention, tensor, tensile, extensible, portent, detent, 42 more

through Latin intendō ‘to stretch out’

entente, entendre, 6 more

Today it means

adj Intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily.

Sources

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

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