Intend

How to spell intend

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce intend

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does intend mean?

1. verbTo have a plan or purpose in mind; to mean to do something.

Intend in a sentence

• We intend to finish the project before the deadline.

• They intend the new policy to reduce overtime costs.

Where does intend come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin intendere, which literally meant 'to stretch out' or 'to stretch toward', built from the prefix in- 'toward' and the verb tendere 'to stretch'. The Romans extended the literal idea of stretching a bow or directing one's attention toward a target into the figurative sense of turning the mind toward a purpose, hence 'to plan' or 'to mean to do'. English borrowed it during the 1300s by way of Old French entendre, and the spelling later drifted back toward the Latin in-. The same tendere root threads through a whole family of English words, including tension, attend, extend, and pretend, all of which share that core notion of stretching. Knowing the steady tend in the middle helps fix the spelling, since the word is simply the prefix in- attached to that ancient root.

How the word is built

• in- (toward)
• tend (from Latin tendere: to stretch)