Where does “tenderly” come from?
Tenderly derives from English tender, which comes from English tend, tracing back through Chinese 兒 to Latin tendere meaning to stretch or extend, with the adverbial suffix -ly ultimately rooted in Latin -are formations.
tenderly (English): In a tender manner; gently; sweetly
Definitions
- In a tender manner; gently; sweetly
Ancestry of “tenderly”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | tender | Sensitive or painful to the touch; Easily bruised... |
| 2 | English | tend | To make a tender of; to offer or tender; To be... |
| 3 | Middle English | tenden | To ignite; to light or set on fire |
| 4 | Middle English | attenden | to attend |
| 5 | Old French | atendre | to wait |
| 6 | Latin | attendō | to pay attention, attend (to), direct the attention towards |
| 7 | Latin | ad- | to; usually prefixed to verbs, in which cases it... |
| 8 | Latin | īn- | un-, non-, not |
| 9 | Latin | în | in, at, on, upon, from (space) |
| 10 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |