tendance

English

Etymology

See tend (“to attend”), and compare attendance.

Noun

tendance (countable and uncountable, plural tendances)

1. The act of attending to or looking after something; tending, attention.
   • a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Spring”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC:

     And up they rose as vigorous as the Sun, / Or to the Culture of the willing Glebe, / Or to the cheerful Tendance of the Flock.

2. (archaic) attendance (The act of attending or waiting)
   • 1835, William Gilmore Simms, The Partisan, Harper, Chapter XI, page 136:

     What but love, kindness, and all affection is her tendance upon poor Emily. To her, is she not all meekness, all love, all forbearance?

3. (obsolete) People in attendance; attendants.
   • c. 1605–1608, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], line 83:

     […] his lobbies fill with tendance, / Rain sacrificial whisperings in his ear,

References

• “tendance”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

French

Etymology

From tendre ‎ -ance.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɑ̃.dɑ̃s/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑ̃s

Noun

tendance f (plural tendances)

1. tendency, propensity

Derived terms

• avoir la tendance de

Descendants

• → German: Tendenz
• → Turkish: tandans

Further reading

• “tendance”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.