Where does “tender” come from?

Tender comes from English tend, influenced by Chinese 兒, from Latin tendere meaning to stretch, via Latin -are and Latin ad-.

tender (English): Sensitive or painful to the touch; Easily bruised...

Definitions

  1. Sensitive or painful to the touch; Easily bruised...

Ancestry of “tender”, step by step

tender traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via English tend

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishtendTo make a tender of; to offer or tender; To be...
2Middle EnglishtendenTo ignite; to light or set on fire
3Middle Englishattendento attend
4Old Frenchatendreto wait
5Latinattendōto pay attention, attend (to), direct the attention towards
6Latinad-to; usually prefixed to verbs, in which cases it...
7Latinīn-un-, non-, not
8Latinînin, at, on, upon, from (space)
9Latinenlookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ
10Proto-Italicenin
11Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁énin

via French tendre

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchtendretender; to tighten; to stretch out
2Italiantenerotender, soft; delicate, kind; cute; tender part,...
3Spanishtiernotender, affectionate; soft, delicate; tender,...
4Latintenerumnominative neuter singular of tener; accusative...

via Middle English tender

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishtenderAlternative form of tinder
2Old Englishtyndertinder
3Old Norsetundr
4Proto-Germanictundrątinder

Words derived from “tender

Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁én