tender

Etymology 1

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

adj

1. Sensitive or painful to the touch.
   Be careful: that area is tender. 2006, Shrek, spoken by Shrek (Mike Myers)
2. Easily bruised or injured; not firm or hard; delicate.
   tender plants
   tender flesh
   tender fruit
3. Physically weak; not able to endure hardship.
4. (of food) Soft and easily chewed.
   The Matrix is telling my brain this steak is tender, succulent, and juicy. 2001, Joey Pantolino (character), The Matrix (movie)
5. Sensible to impression and pain; easily pained.
6. Fond, loving, gentle, or sweet.
   Suzanne was such a tender mother to her children.
7. Young and inexperienced.
   I first had a girlfriend at the tender age of seven.
   And you of tender years can't know the fears that your elders grew by. 1970, Graham Nash (lyrics and music), “Teach Your Children”
   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[…]. 2001 October 15, Appeals Court of Illinios (Second District) in Appelhans v. McFall
8. Adapted to excite feeling or sympathy; expressive of the softer passions; pathetic.
   tender expressions; tender expostulations; a tender strain
9. Apt to give pain; causing grief or pain; delicate.
   a tender subject
10. (nautical) Heeling over too easily when under sail; said of a vessel.
11. (obsolete) Exciting kind concern; dear; precious.
12. (obsolete) Careful to keep inviolate, or not to injure; used with of.
    The civil authority should be tender of the honour of God and religion. a. 1694, John Tillotson, The Advantages of Religion to Societies

noun

1. (obsolete) Care, kind concern, regard.
2. The inner flight muscle (pectoralis minor) of poultry.

Etymology 2

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

adv

1. tenderly
   Love me tender, love me sweet Never let me go

Etymology 3

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

verb

1. (now rare) To make tender or delicate; to weaken.
   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 […]. , vol.I, New York, 2001, p.233
   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. c. 1947, Putnam Fadeless Dyes [flyer packaged with granulated dye]
2. (archaic) To feel tenderly towards; to regard fondly or with consideration.

Etymology 4

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

noun

1. (obsolete) Someone who tends or waits on someone.
2. (rail transport) A railroad car towed behind a steam engine to carry fuel and water.
   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. 1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter XII, in Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, page 201
   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." 1944 July and August, Reginald B. Fellows, “The Failure of Bricklayers Arms as a Passenger Station—I”, in Railway Magazine, page 211
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.
   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. 1944 July and August, Charles E. Lee, “The "City of Truro"”, in Railway Magazine, page 202
   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. 1 April 2015, 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), archived from the original on 2015-04-13
5. (diving) A member of a diving team who assists a diver during a dive but does not themselves go underwater.
   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." 19 October 2022, David J. Neal, “Broward company 'ignored safety standards and a young worker has died,' OSHA says”, in Miami Herald, Miami, F.L.: McClatchy, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-06-22

verb

1. To work on a tender.
   Meantime, I'll dig up what I can, but if they start fishing again, I start tendering. 1998, Dana Stabenow, Killing Grounds, page 103

Etymology 5

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

noun

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!
   Herein, the Bard plays with the word "tender" most liberally. The boldened instance of the word is that which pertains to the instant sense.
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.

verb

1. (formal) To offer, to give.
   to tender one’s resignation
   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.
   Hank Mann Tenders You Holiday Greetings December 25, 1920, Motion Picture News, volume XXIII, number 1, page 225
2. To offer a payment, as at sales or auctions.