Intended

How to spell intended

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce intended

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does intended mean?

1. verbPast tense of intend: planned or meant to do something.
2. adjectivePlanned or meant for a particular purpose or audience.

Intended in a sentence

• verb

  She intended to finish the report before the weekend.

• adjective

  The intended audience for the manual is new employees.

• verb

  The manager intended the meeting to last only thirty minutes.

• adjective

  The parcel reached its intended recipient a day late.

Where does intended come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb intendere, which literally meant 'to stretch toward' or 'to direct', formed from the prefix in- ('toward') and tendere ('to stretch'). In Roman usage the sense extended from physically stretching something, such as drawing a bow toward a target, to mentally directing one's attention or purpose at something. English took the verb 'intend' through Old French entendre during the 1300s, and the regular past form 'intended' followed naturally. The same tendere root survives in a whole family of familiar words, including 'tension', 'extend', and 'tendon', all carrying that core idea of stretching. Knowing the root helps with the spelling: the single 't', single 'n', and the plain '-tend-' core reflect the Latin tendere rather than any doubled letters.

How the word is built

• in- (toward)
• tend (from Latin tendere: to stretch)
• -ed (past tense / participle suffix)