tend1

 
Pronunciation: /tɛnd/

verb

[no object, with infinitive]
  • regularly or frequently behave in a particular way or have a certain characteristic: written language tends to be formal her hair tended to come loose
  • [no object] (tend to/towards) be liable to possess or display (a particular characteristic): Walter tended towards corpulence
  • [no object, with adverbial] go or move in a particular direction: fire is hot and tends upwards
  • [no object] (tend to) Mathematics (of a variable) approach a given quantity as a limit: the orbit tends to infinity

Origin:

Middle English (in the sense 'move or be inclined to move in a certain direction'): from Old French tendre 'stretch, tend', from Latin tendere