English
tentory
Tentory comes from Latin tentorium ‘a tent’, from tendō ‘to stretch out, to spread out’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *téndeti.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*téndeti1reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tendō1‘to stretch’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtendō1‘to stretch out, to spread out’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtentorium2‘a tent’
- Englishearliest quotation 1729tentory2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin tentorium
- 2 Wiktionary, English tentory
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1729, John Evelyn, Silva: or: “And the Women mentioned who are said to weave…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*téndetiWiktionary, Latin tentoriumreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tendōWiktionary, Latin tentorium‘to stretch’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtendōWiktionary, Latin tentorium‘to stretch out, to spread out’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtentoriumWiktionary, English tentory‘a tent’
- Englishearliest quotation 1729tentoryWiktionary, English tentory. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1729, John Evelyn, Silva: or: “And the Women mentioned who are said to weave…”
Linked words
through Proto-Italic *tendō ‘to stretch’
pretend, extend, attendance, tender, intend, intentional, hypertension, contend, pretense, hypotension, pretension, inattention, entendre, portend, 26 more
through Latin tendō ‘to stretch out, to spread out’
attention, extensive, extension, tend, tension, extent, intention, tense, contention, tempt, tensile, tensor, extensible, entente, portent, detent, 42 more
Today it means
noun The awning or covering of a tent.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “tentory”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin tentorium. 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 / tentory