Etymograph

English

toise

Toise comes from Old French teise, from Latin tēnsa ‘outstretched (arms)’, 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 CEtendō2‘stretch’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtēnsa2‘outstretched (arms)’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400teise2
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presenttoise3
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1997toise3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin tendo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, French toise
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English toise
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1997, Thomas Pynchon: “[…] the greater its speed, the less visible it…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*téndetiWiktionary, Latin tendoreconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tendōWiktionary, Latin tendo‘to stretch’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtendōWiktionary, French toise‘stretch’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtēnsaWiktionary, French toise‘outstretched (arms)’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400teiseWiktionary, French toise
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presenttoiseWiktionary, English toise
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1997toiseWiktionary, English toise. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1997, Thomas Pynchon: “[…] the greater its speed, the less visible it…”

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *tendō ‘to stretch’

extend, pretend, attendance, intend, tender, intentional, contend, hypertension, pretense, hypotension, inattention, entendre, pretension, portend, 26 more

through Latin tendō ‘stretch’

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

through Old French teise

tey, 1 more

Today it means

noun A former French unit of length, corresponding to about 1.949 metres.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “toise”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin tendo, French toise. 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 / toise

Shirt and support for this word