tent
/tɛnt/ noun, verb
Forms tents tenting tented
- noun A pavilion or portable lodge consisting of skins, canvas, or some strong cloth, stretched and sustained by poles, used for sheltering people from the weather. “We were camping in a three-man tent.”
- noun (archaic) The representation of a tent used as a bearing.
- noun (Scotland) A portable pulpit set up outside to accommodate worshippers who cannot fit into a church.
- noun A trouser tent; a piece of fabric, etc. protruding outward like a tent.
- verb (intransitive) To go camping. “We’ll be tenting at the campground this weekend.”
- verb (cooking) To prop up aluminum foil in an inverted "V" (reminiscent of a pop-up tent) over food to reduce splatter, before putting it in the oven.
- verb (intransitive) To form into a tent-like shape. “The sheet tented over his midsection.”
- verb Synonym of fumigate.
- verb (archaic, UK, Scotland, dialect) To attend to; to heed.
- verb (archaic, UK, Scotland, dialect) To guard; to hinder.
- noun (archaic, UK, Scotland, dialect) Attention; regard, care.
- noun (archaic) Intention; design.
- noun (medicine) A roll of lint or linen, or a conical or cylindrical piece of sponge or other absorbent, used chiefly to dilate a natural canal, to keep open the orifice of a wound, or to absorb discharges.
- noun (medicine) A probe for searching a wound.
- verb (medicine, sometimes figurative) To probe or to search with a tent; to keep open with a tent.
- noun (archaic) A kind of red wine of a deep red color, chiefly from Galicia or Malaga in Spain.
Synonyms
fumigate tent wine tinta collapsible shelter camp encamp camp out bivouac
Etymology
From Middle English tente, borrowed from Old French tente, from Vulgar Latin *tenta (“tent”), from the feminine of Latin tentus, ptp. of tendere (“to stretch, extend”), or contracted from *tendita as an alternate past participle. Displaced native Middle English tild, tilt (“tent, tilt”), from Old English teld (“tent”). Compare Spanish tienda (“store, shop; tent”).
From Middle English tent (“attention”), aphetic variation of attent (“attention”), from Old French atente (“attention, intention”), from Latin attenta, feminine of attentus, past participle of attendere (“to attend”). Compare tend, from an aphetic variation of attend
From Middle English tente (“a probe”), from Middle French tente, deverbal of tenter, from Latin tentāre (“to probe, test”), alteration of temptāre (“to test, probe, tempt”).
From Spanish tinto (“deep-colored”), from Latin tīnctus, past participle of tingo (“to dye”). More at tinge. Doublet of tint and tinto. Compare claret (“French red wine”), also from color.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A kind of wine of a deep red color, chiefly from Galicia or Malaga in Spain; --called also tent wine, and tinta.
- noun Attention; regard, care. [Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Scot.] Lydgate.
- noun Intention; design. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
- verb To attend to; to heed; hence, to guard; to hinder. [Prov. Eng.
Etymology [Sp. tinto, properly, deep-colored, fr. L. tinctus, p.p. of tingere to dye. See Tinge, and cf. Tint, Tinto.]
Etymology [Cf. Attent, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “tent”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details