Etymology

tendency

ten·den·cy
T1E1N1D2E1N1C3Y4

Today it means: A likelihood of behaving in a particular way or going in a particular direction; a tending toward. Full definition →

Medieval Latin tendentia ← Latin tendēns ← Proto-Italic *tendō
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ten-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*tend-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*téndeti
  4. Proto-Italic*tendō
  5. Latintendō
  6. Latintendēns
  7. Medieval Latintendentia
  8. English todaytendency

From Medieval Latin tendentia, from tendēns, present participle of tendō.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.