tender means sensitive or painful to the touch. It carries an Arena rating of 1388, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, tender ranks #91 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #811 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #1,000 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #3,744 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
tender is pronounced /ˈtɛn.dəː/.
Why “tender” is a great word
Physically soft, delicate, or sensitive to pain, or a formal offer to supply goods or services at a stated price. From Middle English tender, tendere, from Anglo-Norman tender and Old French tendre, from Latin tener, tenerum ("soft, delicate"). The sense relating to an offer derives from a separate root: Middle English tendren ("to offer"), from Old French tendre ("to stretch, hold forth"), from Latin tendere ("to stretch, extend"). Unlike nesh (which implies a spoiled weakness to the cold) or offer (a general presentation), tender as an adjective is a neutral vulnerability, and as a noun, a precise contractual gambit. It is the vulnerable give of a healing bruise, the careful hand cupping a fledgling bird, and the sealed envelope containing a bid to build a bridge—a word that holds both the wound and the formal promise of its mending.
Etymology
From Middle English tender, tendere, from Anglo-Norman tender, Old French tendre, from Latin tener, tenerum (“soft, delicate”).
adj
- Sensitive or painful to the touch.
- Easily bruised or injured; not firm or hard; delicate.e.g.“tender plants”
- Physically weak; not able to endure hardship.e.g.“the tender and delicate woman among you” — 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 28:56:
- Soft and easily chewed.e.g.“The Matrix is telling my brain this steak is tender, succulent, and juicy.” — 2001, Joey Pantolino (character), The Matrix (movie)
- Sensible to impression and pain; easily pained.e.g.“Our Bodies are not naturally more Tender than our Faces.” — 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC:
- Fond, loving, gentle, or sweet.e.g.“Suzanne was such a tender mother to her children.”
- Young and inexperienced.e.g.“I first had a girlfriend at the tender age of seven.”
- Adapted to excite feeling or sympathy; expressive of the softer passions; pathetic.e.g.“tender expressions; tender expostulations; a tender strain”
- Apt to give pain; causing grief or pain; delicate.e.g.“a tender subject”
- Heeling over too easily when under sail; said of a vessel.
- Exciting kind concern; dear; precious.e.g.“I love Valentine,
Whose life's as tender to me as my soul!” — c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]
- Careful to keep inviolate, or not to injure; used with of.e.g.“tender of property” — 1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. […], London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC:
noun
- Care, kind concern, regard.
- The inner flight muscle (pectoralis minor) of poultry.
- A railroad car towed behind a steam engine to carry fuel and water.e.g.“Half the coal was out of the tender, half the fire out of the box, half the trucks were off the track, so violent was the stopping.” — 1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter XII, in Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, page 201:
- A naval ship that functions as a mobile base for other ships.e.g.“submarine tender”
- A smaller boat used for transportation between a large ship and the shore.e.g.“The transfer by tender of some 1,300 mail bags was effected smartly, and the "Ocean Mails Special" train was ready at 9.19 a.m.” — 1944 July and August, Charles E. Lee, “The "City of Truro"”, in Railway Magazine, page 202:
- A member of a diving team who assists a diver during a dive but does not themselves go underwater.
- Someone who tends or waits on something or someone.
- Anything which is offered, proffered, put forth or bid with the expectation of a response, answer, or reply.
- A means of payment such as a check or cheque, cash or credit card.e.g.“Your credit card has been declined so you need to provide some other tender such as cash.”
- A formal offer to buy or sell something.e.g.“We will submit our tender to you within the week.”
- Any offer or proposal made for acceptance.e.g.“[...] if she should make tender of her love, 'tis very possible he'll scorn it; for the man,—as you know all,—hath a contemptible spirit.” — 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] B
adv
- tenderlye.g.“Love me tender, love me sweet
Never let me go” — 1956, Ken Darby, “Love Me Tender”, performed by Elvis Presley:
verb
- To make tender or delicate; to weaken.e.g.“To such as are wealthy, live plenteously, at ease, […] these viands are to be forborne, if they be inclined to, or suspect melancholy, as they tender their healths […].” — , vol.I, New York, 2001, p.233
- To feel tenderly towards; to regard fondly or with consideration.e.g.“The angrie king hath banished me the court:
And therefore as thou louest and tendrest me,
Be thou my aduocate vnto these peeres.” — 1594, Christopher Marlow[e], The Troublesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England: […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Henry Bell, […], published 1622, →OCLC, (plea
- To work on a tender.e.g.“Meantime, I'll dig up what I can, but if they start fishing again, I start tendering.” — 1998, Dana Stabenow, Killing Grounds, →ISBN, page 103:
- To offer, to give.e.g.“to tender one’s resignation”
- To offer a payment, as at sales or auctions; to bid.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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