attend

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English

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Etymology

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PIE word
*h₂éd

From Middle English attenden, atenden (to devote oneself (to a task, etc.); to pay attention to (something), to look after; to consider (something); to expect or look forward to (something); to intend to do (something); to help or serve (someone), attend upon; to take care of (something)),[1] from Old French atendre (to await, wait for; to expect; to intend), from Latin attendere, the present active infinitive of attendō, adtendō (to pay attention to, attend; to direct or turn toward), from ad- (prefix meaning ‘to, towards’) + tendō (to direct one’s course; to extend, stretch; to exert, strive).[2] Doublet of attempt and tend.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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attend (third-person singular simple present attends, present participle attending, simple past and past participle attended)

  1. Senses relating to caring for or waiting on someone, or accompanying or being present.
    1. (transitive) To care for (someone requiring attention); specifically, of a doctor, nurse, etc.: to provide professional care to (someone).
      • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. [], London: [] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 41, page 146:
        The fift [beadsman] had charge ſick perſons to attend, / And comfort thoſe, in point of death vvhich lay; []
      • 1722 March, H[enry] F[oe] [pseudonym; Daniel Defoe], A Journal of the Plague Year: [], London: [] E[lizabeth] Nutt []; J. Roberts []; A. Dodd []; and J. Graves [], →OCLC, page 98:
        VVe had at this Time a great many frightful Stories told us of Nurſes and VVatchmen, vvho looked after the dying People, that is to ſay, hir'd Nurſes, vvho attended infected People, uſing them barbarouſly, ſtarving them, ſmothering them, or by other vvicked Means, haſtening their End, that is to ſay, murthering of them: []
      • 1733 (indicated as 1732), [Alexander] Pope, Of the Use of Riches, an Epistle to the Right Honourable Allen Lord Bathurst, London: [] J. Wright, for Lawton Gilliver [], →OCLC, page 14:
        Is any ſick? the Man of Roſs relieves; / Preſcribes, attends, the med'cine makes, and gives.
    2. (transitive) To wait on (someone or their instructions) as an attendant, servant, etc.; also (specifically of a gentleman-in-waiting or lady-in-waiting to a member of royalty), to accompany (someone) in order to assist or wait upon them; to escort. [from 15th c.]
      Synonyms: bestand, serve; see also Thesaurus:serve
      Servants attend the king day and night.
    3. (transitive) To be present at (an event or place) in order to take part in some action or proceedings; also, to regularly go to (an event or place). [from 17th c.]
      Children must attend primary school.
    4. (transitive) To take action with respect to (someone, or something such as a concern, problem, or task); to deal with, to handle. [from 15th c.]
    5. (transitive) Of a (chiefly immaterial) thing: to be consequent to or present with (someone or something); to accompany.
      a measure attended with ill effects
    6. (transitive, archaic or obsolete) To look after (someone or something); to tend.
    7. (intransitive) Followed by to: to look after someone or something.
      Valets attend to their employers’ wardrobes.
      • 1853, Pisistratus Caxton [pseudonym; Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter XVI, in “My Novel”; Or Varieties in English Life [], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book third, page 220:
        Lenny still went to church—a church a long way off in another parish—but the sermons did not do him the same good as Parson Dale's had done; and the clergyman, who had his own flock to attend to, did not condescend, as Parson Dale would have done, to explain what seemed obscure, and enforce what was profitable, in private talk, with that stray lamb from another's fold.
    8. (intransitive) To be ready to wait upon someone or their instructions as an attendant, servant, etc.; also (followed by on or upon), to accompany someone in order to assist or wait upon them.
    9. (intransitive) Followed by at: to go to and be present at a place for some purpose; also (obsolete), followed by on: to be present at and take part in an event.
      • 1655, Thomas Stanley, “[Chilon.] Chapter III. His Death, and Writings.”, in The History of Philosophy. [], volume I, London: [] Humphrey Moseley, and Thomas Dring, [], →OCLC, 1st part ([Containing Those on whom the Attribute of Wise was Conferr’d]), page 72:
        He died (according to Hermippas) at Piſa, embracing his ſon, victor in the Olympick games, of the cæſtus, the vveakneſſe of his age overcome vvith exceſſe of joy; all vvho vvere preſent at the great aſſembly attended on his funeralls, []
      • 1760, Edmund Burke, “An Essay towards an Abridgment of the English History. []. Chapter VII. Of the Laws and Institutions of the Saxons.”, in [Walker King], editor, The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, new edition, volume X, London: [] [R. Gilbert] for C[harles] and J[ohn] Rivington, [], published 1826, →OCLC, book II, page 347:
        All persons, of whatever rank, attended at the County Courts, but they did not go there as judges, they went to sue for justice; to be informed of their duty, and to be bound to the performance of it. Thus all sorts of people attended at the Wittenagemotes, not to make laws, but to attend at the promulgation of the laws; as among so free a people every institution must have wanted much of its necessary authority, if not confirmed by the general approbation.
      • 1837 May, E. L., “The Castle and the Monastery”, in The New Monthly Belle Assemblée; a Magazine of Literature and Fashion, [], volume VI, London: [] Joseph Rogerson, [], →OCLC, page 244, column 2:
        'Whither goest thou?' he exclaimed, 'at this hour, were it not better thou attendedst at vespers?'
      • 2011 October 14, Thomas Cromwell, Puisne Justice, Supreme Court of Canada, “R. v. Côté [2011 SCC 46 (CanLII)]”, in Canadian Legal Information Institute[1], archived from the original on 2022-03-13, paragraph 9:
        Around 12:15 a.m. patrolling officers Tremblay and Mathieu attended at the appellant’s home.
      • 2016 April 18, Michele M. Murphy, Justice, Court of Appeal of Prince Edward Island, “R. v. Yeo [[2016] PEIJ No 14 (QL)]”, in Canadian Legal Information Institute[2], paragraph 30:
        There were a few errors in the testimony of [a civilian witness] which the trial judge noted – one, that they attended at the Fairhurst residence the day before the robbery, and two, that Wakelin was with them.
    10. (intransitive) Followed by to: to take action with respect to someone or something; to deal with.
      Secretaries attend to correspondence.
    11. (intransitive) Followed by on or upon: of a (chiefly immaterial) thing: to be consequent on or present with.
  2. Senses relating to directing one's attention.
    1. (transitive, archaic) To listen to (something or someone). [from 15th c.]
      Synonym: behear
    2. (transitive, obsolete) To give consideration to (someone or something); to heed, to pay attention, to regard.
      Synonyms: mark, notice
    3. (intransitive) Often followed by to, upon, or with: to give consideration; to pay attention.
      Synonyms: notice, take heed; see also Thesaurus:pay attention
      • 1611, The Holy Bible, [] (King James Version), London: [] Robert Barker, [], →OCLC, Romans 13:5–6:
        Wherfore ye muſt needs be ſubiect [to rulers], not onely for wrath, but alſo for conſcience ſake. For, for this cauſe pay you tribute alſo: for they are Gods ministers, attending continually vpon this very thing.
      • 1685 October 11 (date written; Gregorian calendar), G[ilbert] Burnet, “The Second Letter. Millan, the First of October, 1685.”, in Some Letters. Containing, an Account of what Seemed Most Remarkable in Switzerland, Italy, &c. [], Rotterdam: [] Abraham Acher, [], published 1686, →OCLC, page 78:
        [T]here is a Griſon Regiment kept ſtill in pay by the Spaniards, there are in it tvvelve Companies of fifty a piece, and the Captains have a thouſand Crovvns pay, tho they are not obliged to attend upon the ſervice: []
      • 1704, [Jonathan Swift], “Section IX. A Digression Concerning the Original, the Use and Improvement of Madness in a Commonwealth.”, in A Tale of a Tub. [], London: [] John Nutt, [], →OCLC, pages 169–170:
        The preſent Argument is the moſt abſtracted that ever I engaged in, it ſtrains my Faculties to their higheſt Stretch; and I deſire the Reader to attend with utmoſt perpenſity; For, I now proceed to unravel this knotty Point.
      • 1712 January 11 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “MONDAY, December 31, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 262; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, [], volume III, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 308:
        It will be sufficient for me if I discover many beauties or imperfections which others have not attended to; and I should be very glad to see one of our eminent writers publish their discoveries on the same subject.
        The spelling has been modernized.
      • 1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], “Walton, in continuation”, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. [], volume III, London: [] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, page 168:
        I hesitated before I answered; when Frankenstein, who had at first been silent, and, indeed, appeared hardly to have force enough to attend, now roused himself; his eyes sparkled, and his cheeks flushed with momentary vigour.
    4. (intransitive, archaic) Followed by to or unto: to listen. [from 15th c.]
      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:listen
  3. (archaic or obsolete) Senses relating to waiting for something.
    1. (transitive) To look out or wait for (someone, or something such as a decision or event); to await.
      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:wait for
      • 1658, Thomas Browne, “Hydriotaphia, Urne-buriall. []. Chapter V.”, in Hydriotaphia, Urne-buriall, [] Together with The Garden of Cyrus, [], London: [] Hen[ry] Brome [], →OCLC, page 78:
        Ægyptian ingenuity vvas more unſatisfied, contriving their bodies in ſvveet conſiſtences, to attend the return of their ſouls. But all vvas vanity, feeding the vvinde, and folly.
      • 1665 (first performance), John Dryden, The Indian Emperour, or, The Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. [], London: [] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman [], published 1667, →OCLC, Act III, scene ii, page 29:
        Three days I promis'd to attend my Doom, / And tvvo long days and nights are yet to come: []
      • 1695, William Temple, An Introduction to the History of England, London: [] Richard Simpson [], and Ralph Simpson [], →OCLC, page 124:
        In the City of London, beſides the great Numbers and Riches of the Inhabitants, vvere retired moſt of the great Nobles of the Kingdom, both Eccleſiaſtical and Secular, vvho had not been engaged in Action of either Side, and attended, vvhat vvould be the Iſſue of this ſtrong and violent Convulſion of the State.
      • 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. [], London: [] J[acob] Tonson, [], published 1713, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 17:
        Fathers, vve once again are met in Council. / [Julius] Cæsar’s Approach has ſummon’d us together, / And Rome attends her Fate from our Reſolves: []
      • 1749, [Tobias George Smollett], The Regicide: Or, James the First, of Scotland. A Tragedy. [], London: [] [F]or the benefit of the author, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 17:
        Here I attend / The King—and lo! he comes.— []
    2. (transitive) To expect or look forward to (someone or something).
    3. (transitive, figurative) Of a thing: to be in store or lie in wait for (someone or something); to await.
      • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], “Of Power”, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. [], London: [] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, [], →OCLC, book II, page 127:
        To him, I ſay, vvho hath a proſpect of the different State of perfect Happineſs or Miſery that attends all Men after this Life, depending on their Behaviour here, the meaſures of Good and Evil, that govern his choice, are mightily changed.
    4. (intransitive) To remain and wait; to abide.
      • 1607, Robert Abbot, “Of Free Will”, in The Second Part of The Defence of the Reformed Catholicke. [], London: [] [Richard Field for] Thomæ Adams, →OCLC, page 147:
        [] God knocketh at the doore of our hearts, but vvorketh nothing in our hearts, till vve firſt of our ſelues aſſent to let him in. He attendeth till vve open him the gates, and then he vvith his heauenly gifts vvill enter in; []
      • 1768, Mr. Yorick [pseudonym; Laurence Sterne], “The Remise. Calais.”, in A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, volume I, London: [] T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt, [], →OCLC, page 78:
        The lady attended as if ſhe expected I ſhould go on.
    5. (intransitive, rare) Followed by for: to expect or look forward.
    6. (intransitive, figurative) Followed by for: of a thing: to be in store or lie in wait.
  4. (obsolete) To intend (something).

Conjugation

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Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ attenden, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ attend, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2023; attend, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Participle

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attend

  1. present participle of atten

Declension

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Declension of attend
uninflected attend
inflected attende
positive
predicative/adverbial attend
attende
indefinite m./f. sing. attende
n. sing. attend
plural attende
definite attende
partitive attends

French

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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attend

  1. third-person singular present indicative of attendre

Anagrams

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Middle English

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Verb

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attend (third-person singular simple present attendeth, present participle attendende, attendynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle attended)

  1. Alternative spelling of atenden