Tender

How to spell tender

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce tender

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does tender mean?

1. adjectiveSoft, gentle, or easily damaged, and sensitive to touch or to feeling.
2. verbTo offer or present something formally, such as a resignation, an apology, or a payment.
3. nounA formal written offer to supply goods or do work at a stated price.
4. nounA small boat or vehicle that serves or supplies a larger ship or engine.

Tender in a sentence

• adjective

  The slow-cooked beef was so tender that it fell off the bone.

• verb

  She decided to tender her resignation at the end of the month.

• noun

  The council invited every local builder to submit a tender for the project.

• noun

  Passengers were ferried ashore on a small tender because the harbour was too shallow.

• adjective

  The bruise on her shin was still tender a week later.

• verb

  The firm agreed to tender a full apology to its customers.

Where does tender come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Tender carries two distinct family histories that happen to land on the same spelling. The adjective meaning 'soft, gentle, easily hurt' descends from the Latin tener, which literally meant 'soft, delicate, or youthful', and it reached English in the 1200s through the Old French tendre. The verb and business senses, meaning 'to offer something formally', come instead from the Latin tendere, meaning 'to stretch out' or 'hold out', the same root that gives us 'extend' and 'tension'; the idea is of holding something out for acceptance. The boat or vehicle called a tender comes from a clipping of 'attend', because it attends on a larger ship or engine. Because these strands merged in spelling, a single short word covers feelings, formal offers, and small craft. The link to tener also survives in 'tendon' nearby in sense and in the culinary 'tenderise', reminders that the core idea is softness and yielding.

How the word is built

• tend- (from Latin tener, soft/delicate, and tendere, to stretch out or offer)
• -er