attend

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word attend. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word attend, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say attend in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word attend you have here. The definition of the word attend will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofattend, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Etymology

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)), from Old French atendre (to await, wait for; to expect; to intend), from Latin attendere, adtendere (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). Doublet of attempt and tend.

Pronunciation

Verb

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: ">…] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 41, page 146:
        The fift had charge ſick perſons to attend, / And comfort thoſe, in point of death vvhich lay;
      • 1722 March, H F , A Journal of the Plague Year: , London: E 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), 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.
      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).
      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.
    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
      • 1605, Francis Bacon, “The Second Booke”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: ">…] for Henrie Tomes, , →OCLC, folio 91, verso:
        haue alſo attended them vvith briefe obſeruations, ſuch as to my vnderſtandinge, offer noe violence to the ſence, though I knovve they may bee applyed to a more diuine vſe:
      • 1623, G M, “To the Right Honourable and Most Excellentest of All Ladies, Frances, Countesse Dowager of Exceter”, in Countrey Contentments, or The English Huswife. Containing the Inward and Outward Vertues which Ought to be in a Compleate Woman. , revised edition, London: I B for R Iackson, , →OCLC:
        y ſelfe and my poore prayers ſhall to my laſt gaſpe labour to attend you.
      • 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: , London: Nath Ponder , →OCLC, page 53:
        Piety VVhat moved you at firſt to betake yourſelf to a Pilgrims life? / Chr. I vvas driven out of my Native Countrey, by a dreadful ſound that vvas in mine ears, to vvit, that unavoidable deſtruction did attend me, if I abode in that place vvhere I vvas.
      • 1697, Virgil, “The First Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. , London: Jacob Tonson, , →OCLC, page 62, lines 419–424:
        Novv ſing vve ſtormy Stars, vvhen Autumn vveighs / The Year, and adds to Nights, and ſhortens Days; / And Suns declining ſhine vvith feeble Rays: / VVhat cares muſt then attend the toiling Svvain; / Or vvhen the lovv'ring Spring, vvith laviſh Rain, / Beats dovvn the ſlender Stem and bearded Grain:
      • 1712 August 16 (Gregorian calendar), , “TUESDAY, August 5, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 449; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, , volume V, New York, N.Y.: D Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 211:
        Fidelia answered with a frankness that always attends virtue:
        The spelling has been modernized.
      • 1751 December (indicated as 1752), Henry Fielding, “Containing Many Surprising Adventures”, in Amelia, volume III, London: ">…] for A Millar , →OCLC, book VIII, page 141:
        Our Food vvas attended vvith ſome Ale, vvhich our kind Hoſteſs ſaid ſhe intended not to have tap'd till Chriſtmas;
      • 1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), , chapter I, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. , volume I, London: ">…] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, page 55:
        ealth was an inferior object; but what glory would attend the discovery, if I could banish disease from the human frame, and render man invulnerable to any but a violent death!
      • 1921, Ben Travers, “‘Sing Cuccu Nu’”, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC, part I (“Come He Will”), page 47:
        The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite. There is something humiliating about it. Can those harmless but refined fellow-diners be the selfish cads whose gluttony and personal appearance so raised your contemptuous wrath on your arrival?
    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 , chapter XVI, in “My Novel”; Or Varieties in English Life  In Four Volumes">…], 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, “ Chap III. His Death, and Writings.”, in The History of Philosophy. , volume I, London: Humphrey Moseley, and Thomas Dring, , →OCLC, 1st part (), 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 , editor, The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, new edition, volume X, London: ">…] for C and J 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 ”, in Canadian Legal Information Institute, 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 PEIJ No 14 (QL)]”, in Canadian Legal Information Institute, paragraph 30:
        There were a few errors in the testimony of 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.
      • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Going Abroad”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 108:
        he two captains, Peleg and Bildad, could attend to everything necessary to fit the vessel for the voyage.
      • 1918, W B Maxwell, chapter XV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
        Edward Churchill still attended to his work in a hopeless mechanical manner like a sleep-walker who walks safely on a well-known round. But his Roman collar galled him, his cossack stifled him, his biretta was as uncomfortable as a merry-andrew's cap and bells.
    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).
      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 , 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 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.  H R B.">…], Rotterdam: Abraham Acher, , published 1686, →OCLC, page 78:
        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, , “Section IX. A Digression Concerning the Original, the Use and Improvement of Madness in a Commonwealth.”, in A Tale of a Tub.  To which is Added, An Account of a Battel between the Antient and Modern Books in St. James’s Library.">…], 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), , “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 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), , “Walton, in continuation”, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. , volume III, London: ">…] 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.
      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
    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), , “Of Power”, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. , London: Eliz 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: 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 , “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

Conjugation of attend
infinitive (to) attend
present tense past tense
1st-person singular attend attended
2nd-person singular attend, attendest attended, attendedst
3rd-person singular attends, attendeth attended
plural attend
subjunctive attend attended
imperative attend
participles attending attended

Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms

Translations

References

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

Further reading

Anagrams

Dutch

Pronunciation

Participle

attend

  1. present participle of atten

Declension

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

Pronunciation

Verb

attend

  1. third-person singular present indicative of attendre

Anagrams

Middle English

Verb

attend

  1. alternative spelling of atenden