Extend

How to spell extend

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce extend

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does extend mean?

1. verbTo make something longer, larger, or last for more time; to stretch out or offer.

Extend in a sentence

• The bank agreed to extend the loan by another six months.

• We plan to extend the kitchen into the back garden.

Where does extend come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Extend comes from the Latin verb extendere, which combined the prefix ex-, meaning 'out', with tendere, meaning 'to stretch'. The literal sense was therefore 'to stretch out', whether a physical thing was being drawn to a greater length or an army was spreading itself across a field. English took the word in during the 1300s, borrowing it through Old French rather than straight from the classical source. From the basic idea of stretching, the meaning broadened to cover lengthening time, enlarging an area, and offering something such as help or thanks to another person. The same tendere root sits inside a large family of relatives including 'tension', 'tendon', 'intend', and 'tent', all of which carry that core notion of stretching or straining. Because the word ends in the simple cluster -tend, writers rarely double a letter, so the main thing to remember is the single t after ex.

How the word is built

• ex- (out)
• tend (to stretch, from Latin tendere)