Where does “tenir” come from?
tenir (Middle French) comes from Old French tenir, from Latin teneō, from Proto-Italic tenēō, from Proto-Indo-European ten- — to stretch, to extend.
tenir (Middle French): to hold
Ancestry of “tenir”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old French | tenir | to possess; to have; to hold |
| 2 | Latin | teneō | — |
| 3 | Proto-Italic | tenēō | to hold |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | ten- | to stretch, to extend |
Words derived from “tenir”