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Origin and history of attend

attend(v.)

c. 1300, "be subject to" (obsolete); early 14c., "direct one's mind or energies" (archaic), from Old French atendre "to expect, wait for, pay attention" (12c., Modern French attendre) and directly from Latin attendere "give heed to," literally "to stretch toward," from ad "to, toward" (see ad-) + tendere "stretch" (from PIE root *ten- "to stretch"). The notion is of "stretching" one's mind toward something.

The sense of "take care of, wait upon" is from mid-14c.; that of "endeavor to do" is from c. 1400. The meaning "to pay attention" is from early 15c.; that of "accompany and render service to" (someone) is from mid-15c., as is that of "be in attendance." The meaning "to accompany or follow as a consequent" is from 1610s. Related: Attended; attending.

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to attend

attendance(n.)

late 14c., "act of attending to one's duties" (archaic), from Old French atendance "attention, wait, hope, expectation," from atendant, present participle of atendre "expect, wait for; pay attention" (see attend).

The meaning "action of waiting on someone" is by late 14c. (to dance attendance on someone is from 1560s); that of "action of being present, presenting oneself" (originally with intent of taking a part) is from mid-15c. The meaning "number of persons present" is from 1835. To take attendance in a classroom or lecture is by 1891.

attendant(adj.)

late 14c., "solicitous, attentive," from Old French atendant, present participle of atendre "expect, wait for, pay attention" (see attend (v.)). The sense of "serving under, accompanying in a dependent position" is from c. 1400; that of "closely consequent" is from 1610s.

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tend
"to incline, to move in a certain direction," early 14c., from Old French tendre "stretch out, hold forth, hand over, offer" (11c.), from Latin tendere "to stretch, extend, make tense; aim, direct; direct oneself, hold a course" (from PIE root *ten- "to stretch"). The PIE root pr
miss
Old English missan "fail to hit, miss (a mark); fail in what was aimed at; escape (someone's notice)," from Proto-Germanic *missjan "to go wrong" (source also of Old Frisian missa, Middle Dutch, Dutch missen, German missen "to miss, fail"), from *missa- "in a changed manner," hen
hang
a fusion of Old English hon "suspend" (transitive, class VII strong verb; past tense heng, past participle hangen), and Old English hangian "be suspended" (intransitive, weak, past tense hangode); also probably influenced by Old Norse hengja "suspend," and hanga "be suspended." A
minister
service, aid, or medicine; furnish means of relief or remedy" from Old French menistrer "to serve, be of service, administer, attend..., wait on," and directly from Latin ministrare "to serve, attend, wait upon," from minister "inferior, servant, priest's...
sit-in
To sit in is attested from 1868 in the sense of "attend, be present," and from 1919 specifically as "attend as an observer...
observe
late 14c., observen, "to hold to (a manner of life or course of conduct), carry out the dictates of, attend to in practice...French observer, osserver "to observe, watch over, follow" (10c.), from Latin observare "watch over, note, heed, look to, attend...
observable
notice or mention," from Latin observabilis "remarkable, observable," from observare "watch over, note, heed, look to, attend...
verse
late Old English (replacing Old English fers, an early West Germanic borrowing directly from Latin), "line or section of a psalm or canticle," later "line of poetry" (late 14c.), from Anglo-French and Old French vers "line of verse; rhyme, song," from Latin versus "a line, row, l
serve
late 12c., serven, "to render habitual obedience to, owe allegiance to," also "minister, give aid, give help," from Old French servir "to do duty toward, show devotion to; set table, serve at table; offer, provide with," from Latin servire "be a servant, be in service, be enslave
sever
late 14c., severen, transitive, "cause a separation or division, put or keep apart," from Anglo-French severer, Old French sevrer "to separate" (12c., later in French restricted to "to wean," i.e. "to separate from the mother"), from Vulgar Latin *seperare, from Latin separare "t

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