• (non-rhotic)
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɛn.dəː/, [ˈtʰɛn.dəː]
• (rhotic)
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtɛn.dɚ/, [ˈtʰɛn.dɚ] ~ [ˈtʰɛn.dɹ̩]

    • Audio (US):

      (file)

      • (Southern US, African-American Vernacular, pin–pen merger) IPA^(key): /ˈtɪn.dɚ/, [ˈtʰɪ̟n.dɚ] ~ [ˈtʰɪ̟n.dɹ̩]
• Rhymes: -ɛndə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: ten‧der
• Homophone: tinder (pin–pen merger)

From Middle English tender, tendere, from Anglo-Norman tender, Old French tendre, from Latin tener, tenerum (“soft, delicate”).

tender (comparative tenderer, superlative tenderest)

1. Sensitive or painful to the touch.
   • c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

     […]poore Lord, is't I
     That chaſe thee from thy Countrie, and expoſe
     Thoſe tender limbes of thine[…]

   • 2006, Shrek, spoken by Shrek (Mike Myers):

     Be careful: that area is tender.

2. Easily bruised or injured; not firm or hard; delicate.

   tender plants

   tender flesh

   tender fruit

3. Physically weak; not able to endure hardship.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible,[…] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker,[…], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 28:56:

     the tender and delicate woman among you

4. (of food) Soft and easily chewed.
   • 2001, Joey Pantolino (character), The Matrix (movie)

     The Matrix is telling my brain this steak is tender, succulent, and juicy.

5. Sensible to impression and pain; easily pained.
   • 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists:[…], London: […] R[ichard] Sare,[…], →OCLC:

     Our Bodies are not naturally more Tender than our Faces.

6. Fond, loving, gentle, or sweet.

   Suzanne was such a tender mother to her children.

   • c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:

     You, that are thus so tender o'er his follies,
     Will never do him good.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible,[…] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker,[…], →OCLC, James 5:11:

     The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

   • 1645, Thomas Fuller, “Personall Meditations”, in Good Thoughts in Bad Times,[…], Exeter, Devon: […] Thomas Hunt, →OCLC, section II, page 3:

     Lord. VVHen thou ſhalt viſit me vvith a ſharp diſeaſe, I fear I ſhall be impatient. For I am Cholerick by my Nature, and tender by my Temper, and have not been acquainted vvith Sickneſſe all my life time.

7. Young and inexperienced.

   I first had a girlfriend at the tender age of seven.

   • 1970, Graham Nash, “Teach Your Children”:

     And you of tender years can't know the fears that your elders grew by.

   • 2001 October 15, Appeals Court of Illinios (Second District) in Appelhans v. McFall:

     The court later expressly adopted the tender years doctrine, which states that a child is incapable of contributory negligence if he is less than seven years old[…].

8. Adapted to excite feeling or sympathy; expressive of the softer passions; pathetic.

   tender expressions; tender expostulations; a tender strain

   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XX”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon,[…], →OCLC, page 33:

     The lesser griefs that may be said,
     ⁠That breathe a thousand tender vows,
     ⁠Are but as servants in a house
     Where lies the master newly dead; […]

9. Apt to give pain; causing grief or pain; delicate.

   a tender subject

   • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Cunning”, in The Essayes[…], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:

     Things that are tender and unpleasing.

10. (nautical) Heeling over too easily when under sail; said of a vessel.
11. (obsolete) Exciting kind concern; dear; precious.
    • c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv]:

      I love Valentine,
      Whose life's as tender to me as my soul!

12. (obsolete) Careful to keep inviolate, or not to injure; used with of.
    • 1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event.[…], London: […] J[ames] Dodsley,[…], →OCLC:

      tender of property

    • a. 1694, John Tillotson, The Advantages of Religion to Societies:

      The civil authority should be tender of the honour of God and religion.

• (soft, yielding, delicate): nesh
• See also Thesaurus:affectionate

tender (countable and uncountable, plural tenders)

1. (obsolete) Care, kind concern, regard.
   • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth,[…]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv], page 72, column 1:

     Stay, and breath awhile.
     Thou haſt redeem'd thy loſt opinion
     And ſhew'd thou makeſt ſome tender of my life
     In this faire reſcue thou haſt brought to mee.

2. The inner flight muscle (pectoralis minor) of poultry.

From Middle English tender, tendur, tendir, tendre, from the adjective (see above).

tender (comparative more tender, superlative most tender)

1. tenderly
   • 1956, Ken Darby, “Love Me Tender”, performed by Elvis Presley:

     Love me tender, love me sweet
     Never let me go

From Middle English tendren, from the adjective (see above).

tender (third-person singular simple present tenders, present participle tendering, simple past and past participle tendered)

1. (now rare) To make tender or delicate; to weaken.
   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy:[…], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:
     , vol.I, New York, 2001, p.233:

     To such as are wealthy, live plenteously, at ease, […] these viands are to be forborne, if they be inclined to, or suspect melancholy, as they tender their healths […].

   • c. 1947, Putnam Fadeless Dyes [flyer packaged with granulated dye]:

     Putnam Fadeless Dyes will not injure any material. Boiling water does tender some materials. […] Also, silk fibers are very tender when wet and care should be take not to boil them too vigorously.

2. (archaic) To feel tenderly towards; to regard fondly or with consideration.
   • 1594, Christopher Marlow[e], The Troublesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England:[…], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Henry Bell,[…], published 1622, →OCLC, (please specify the page):

     The angrie king hath banished me the court:
     And therefore as thou louest and tendrest me,
     Be thou my aduocate vnto these peeres.

   • 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene 1], page 23, column 1:

     Firſt, heauen be the record to my ſpeech,
     In the deuotion of a ſubiects loue,
     Tendering the precious ſafetie of my Prince,
     And free from other misbegotten hate,
     Come I appealant to rhis [sic] Princely preſence.

   • c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

     And ſo good Capulet, which name I tender
     As dearely as my owne, be ſatisfied.

From tend +‎ -er. Compare attender (“one who attends”).

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tender (plural tenders)

1. (archaic outside certain compounds) Someone who tends or waits on something or someone.

   Hypernym: person

   Hyponyms: bartender, locktender

2. (rail transport) A railroad car towed behind a steam engine to carry fuel and water.
   • 1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter XII, in Capricornia‎^[1], New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, page 201:

     Half the coal was out of the tender, half the fire out of the box, half the trucks were off the track, so violent was the stopping.

   • 1944 July and August, Reginald B. Fellows, “The Failure of Bricklayers Arms as a Passenger Station—I”, in Railway Magazine, page 211:

     Of locomotive interest was "an engine house for spare engines which was about 60 ft. × 51 ft.; on the outside of this was an immense turntable sufficient to turn the engine and tender at once."

3. (nautical) A naval ship that functions as a mobile base for other ships.

   submarine tender

   destroyer tender

4. (nautical) A smaller boat used for transportation between a large ship and the shore.

   Synonym: dinghy

   • 1944 July and August, Charles E. Lee, “The "City of Truro"”, in Railway Magazine, page 202:

     The transfer by tender of some 1,300 mail bags was effected smartly, and the "Ocean Mails Special" train was ready at 9.19 a.m.

   • 2015 April 1, Teresa Machan, “Queen Elizabeth passenger dies boarding a cruise ship tender [print version: Queen Elizabeth passenger dies after boarding mishap, 4 April 2015, p. T5]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Travel)‎^[2], archived from the original on 13 April 2015:

     A passenger on Cunard's Queen Elizabeth died this week following an accident while boarding from a tender (the small boats that carry passengers from ship to shore or port when the cruise ship anchors at sea). […] Gangway ramps can, on occasion, break free of either the ship or the tender, causing passengers or crew to fall into the sea.

5. (diving) A member of a diving team who assists a diver during a dive but does not themselves go underwater.
   • 2015 August 18, Christoph Gelfand, “'Diving for Scallops'”, in The New York Times‎^[3], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 December 2022:

     Now, with scallop populations under pressure, Mr. Sewell is one of only about 30 active scallop divers left in his state. He and his tender, Jason Simmons, have harvested scallops together each winter and early spring for the past seven years. The rest of the year he catches bluefin tuna and dives for sea urchins.

   • 2022 October 19, David J. Neal, “Broward company 'ignored safety standards and a young worker has died,' OSHA says”, in Miami Herald‎^[4], Miami, F.L.: McClatchy, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 22 June 2023:

     The first of two willful violations OSHA found were the diver and dive tender "performing dredging operations in a canal with zero-visibility, did not have the experience and training in the use of tools, equipment, systems, techniques, and emergency procedures which are required to perform these underwater tasks in a safe manner."

6. Ellipsis of water tender (“firefighting apparatus”).

tender (third-person singular simple present tenders, present participle tendering, simple past and past participle tendered)

1. To work on a tender.
   • 1998, Dana Stabenow, Killing Grounds, →ISBN, page 103:

     Meantime, I'll dig up what I can, but if they start fishing again, I start tendering.

From Middle English tendren, from Old French tendre (“stretch out”).

tender (plural tenders)

1. Anything which is offered, proffered, put forth or bid with the expectation of a response, answer, or reply.

   You offer me the sword of my father, the very man whose bones, because of your perfidy, lie under the sod of Crecy. Aye, I'll surely take it, and just as surely you shall die with your tender through your heart!

   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke:[…] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing][…], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], signature [C4], verso:

     Ophe[lia]. He hath my Lord of late made many tenders / Of his affection to me. / Pol[onius]. Affection, puh, you ſpeake like a greene girle / Vnſifted in ſuch perrilous circumſtance, / Do you belieue his tenders as you call them? / Ophe. I doe not knovve my Lord vvhat I ſhould thinke. / Pol. Marry I vvill teach you, thinke your ſelfe a babie / That you haue tane [taken] theſe tenders for true pay / VVhich are not ſterling, tender your ſelfe more dearely […]

2. A means of payment such as a check or cheque, cash or credit card.

   Your credit card has been declined so you need to provide some other tender such as cash.

   legal tender

3. (law) A formal offer to buy or sell something.

   We will submit our tender to you within the week.

4. Any offer or proposal made for acceptance.
   • 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:

     [...] if she should make tender of her love, 'tis very possible he'll scorn it; for the man,—as you know all,—hath a contemptible spirit.

• legal tender
• put out to tender
• put out for tender

tender (third-person singular simple present tenders, present participle tendering, simple past and past participle tendered)

1. (formal) To offer, to give.

   to tender one’s resignation

   • c. 1605–1608 (date written), 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]:

     You see how all conditions, how all minds, […] tender down
     Their services to Lord Timon.

   • 1864 November 21, Abraham Lincoln (signed) or John Hay, letter to Mrs. Bixby in Boston

     I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.

   • 1920 December 25, Motion Picture News, volume XXIII, number 1, page 225:

     Hank Mann Tenders You Holiday Greetings

2. To offer a payment, as at sales or auctions; to bid.

• offer

• tenderable
• tender something out

• enter'd, entred, rented, tendre

Borrowed from English tender.

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ten‧der

tender m (plural tenders, diminutive tendertje n)

1. (finance) tender

   Het bedrijf heeft een tender ingediend om een bouwproject uit te voeren.

   The company submitted a tender to carry out a construction project.

2. (rail transport) coal-car

   De trein had verschillende tenders gevuld met kolen om de locomotief van brandstof te voorzien.

   The train had several coal-cars filled with coal to provide fuel for the locomotive.

• (finance) aanbesteding

• → Indonesian: tender

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈtɛndər/ [ˈt̪en.dər]
• Rhymes: -ɛndər
• Syllabification: ten‧der

From Dutch tender: from English tender, from Middle English tendren, from Old French tendre (“stretch out”), from Latin tendere.

tèndêr (plural tender-tender)

1. (trading) tender, anything which is offered, proffered, put forth or bid with the expectation of a response, answer, or reply

• sebut harga (Standard Malay)

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From Dutch tender, from English tender, tend +‎ -er.

tèndêr (plural tender-tender)

1. (transport) tender: a railroad car towed behind a steam engine to carry fuel and water

• “tender”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛn.der/^[1]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnder
• Hyphenation: tèn‧der

Unadapted borrowing from English tender.

tender m (invariable)

1. (rail transport) tender

   Synonyms: carboniera, carro di scorta, carro di rifornimento

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

tender (apocopated)

1. apocopic form of tendere

tender

1. alternative form of tinder

Borrowed from English tender.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛn.dɛr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛndɛr
• Syllabification: ten‧der

tender m inan

1. (rail transport) tender (railroad car towed behind a steam engine to carry fuel)
2. (nautical) tender (ship functioning as mobile base for other ships)

• tender in Polish dictionaries at PWN

• Hyphenation: ten‧der

From Latin tendere, from Proto-Italic *tendō, from Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to stretch, draw”).

tender (first-person singular present tendo, first-person singular preterite tendi, past participle tendido)

1. to tend
2. to trend

Clipping of entender.

tender (first-person singular present tendo, first-person singular preterite tendi, past participle tendido)

1. (Brazil, colloquial) clipping of entender

   Tendeu o que eu disse?

   Did you understand what I said?

• “tender”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “tender”, in Dicio – Dicionário Online de Português (in Portuguese), São Paulo: 7Graus, 2009–2026
• “tender”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2026
• “tender”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “tender”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “tender”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Borrowed from French tender.

tender n (plural tendere)

1. (rail transport) tender

Inherited from Latin tendere, tendō, from Proto-Italic *tendō, from Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to stretch, draw”).

• IPA^(key): /tenˈdeɾ/ [t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: ten‧der

tender (first-person singular present tiendo, first-person singular preterite tendí, past participle tendido)

1. (intransitive) to tend to, to have a tendency
2. (transitive) to spread, to stretch out
3. (transitive) to lay (cable)
4. (transitive) to make (a bed)
5. (transitive) to hang up (clothes)
6. (transitive) to build (a bridge across an expanse)
7. (transitive) to extend (the hand)
8. (transitive) to floor (with a punch), to stretch out
9. (transitive) to cast (a net)
10. (transitive) to set (a trap)
11. (transitive) to coat (with plaster)
12. (reflexive) to lay oneself down

• “tender”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

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