INTEND

intend, mean, think

(verb) have in mind as a purpose; “I mean no harm”; “I only meant to help you”; “She didn’t think to harm me”; “We thought to return early that night”

intend, destine, designate, specify

(verb) design or destine; “She was intended to become the director”

mean, intend, signify, stand for

(verb) denote or connote; “‘maison’ means ‘house’ in French”; “An example sentence would show what this word means”

mean, intend

(verb) mean or intend to express or convey; “You never understand what I mean!”; “what do his words intend?”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

intend (third-person singular simple present intends, present participle intending, simple past and past participle intended)

(ambitransitive, usually followed by the particle "to") To hope; to wish (something, or something to be accomplished); be intent upon

Synonyms: mean, design, plan, purpose

To fix the mind on; attend to; take care of; superintend; regard.

(obsolete) To stretch to extend; distend.

To strain; make tense.

(obsolete) To intensify; strengthen.

To apply with energy.

To bend or turn; direct, as one’s course or journey.

To design mechanically or artistically; fashion; mold.

To pretend; counterfeit; simulate.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• mean, mint (UK dialect), foremind (obsolete)

Anagrams

• dentin, indent, tinned

Source: Wiktionary


In*tend", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Intended; p. pr. & vb. n. Intending.] Etym: [OE. entenden to be attentive, F. entendre, fr. L. intendre, intentum, and intensum, to intend, attend, stretch out, extend; pref. in- in + tendere to stretch, stretch out. See Tend.]

1. To stretch' to extend; to distend. [Obs.] By this the lungs are intended or remitted. Sir M. Hale.

2. To strain; to make tense. [Obs.] When a bow is successively intended and remedied. Cudworth.

3. To intensify; to strengthen. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne. Magnetism may be intended and remitted. Sir I. Newton.

4. To apply with energy. Let him intend his mind, without respite, without rest, in one direction. Emerson.

5. To bend or turn; to direct, as one's course or journey. [Archaic] Shak.

6. To fix the mind on; to attend to; to take care of; to superintend; to regard. [Obs.] Having no children, she did, with singular care and tenderness, intend the education of Philip. Bacon. My soul, not being able to intend two things at once, abated of its fervency in praying. Fuller.

7. To fix the mind upon (something to be accomplished); to be intent upon; to mean; to design; to plan; to purpose; -- often followed by an infinitely with to, or a dependent clause with that; as, he intends to go; he intends that she shall remain. They intended evil against thee. Ps. xxi. 11. To-morrow he intends To hunt the boar with certain of his friends. Shak.

8. To design mechanically or artistically; to fashion; to mold. [Obs.] Modesty was made When she was first intended. Beau. & Fl.

9. To pretend; to counterfeit; to simulate. [Obs.] Intend a kind of zeal both to the prince and Claudio. Shak.

Syn.

– To purpose; mean; design; plan; conceive; contemplate.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

18 June 2025

SOUARI

(noun) large South American evergreen tree trifoliate leaves and drupes with nutlike seeds used as food and a source of cooking oil


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Coffee Trivia

The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.

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