intense

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*tend-“to extend, stretch”
2. Latin · derived fromintēnsus“strained, stretched tight; intense; attentive; violent; (rare) eager, intent”
3. Old French · derived fromintense
4. Middle English · inherited fromintens
5. English todayintense

From Late Middle English intens, intense (“ardent, fervent; extreme, great, intense”), borrowed from Old French intense (modern French intense), or directly from its etymon Latin intēnsus (“strained, stretched tight; intense; attentive; violent; (rare) eager, intent”), the perfect passive participle of intendō (“to stretch out, strain”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘in, inside, within’) + tendō (“to extend, stretch”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tend- (“to extend, stretch”)).

Words from the same roots