tendon

American  

[ten-duhn] / ˈtɛn dən /

noun

1. Anatomy. a cord or band of dense, tough, inelastic, white, fibrous tissue, serving to connect a muscle with a bone or part; sinew.

2. a reinforcing strand in prestressed concrete.

---

tendon British  

/ ˈtɛndən /

noun

1. a cord or band of white inelastic collagenous tissue that attaches a muscle to a bone or some other part; sinew

---

tendon Scientific  

/ tĕn′dən /

1. A band of tough, fibrous, inelastic tissue that connects a muscle to a bone. Tendons are made chiefly of collagen.

---

tendon Cultural  

1. A tough band of fibrous connective tissue that connects muscles to bones.

---

Etymology

Origin of tendon

1535–45; < Medieval Latin tendōn- (stem of tendō ) < Greek ténōn sinew (spelling with -d- by association with Latin tendere to stretch)

Compare meaning

How does tendon compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• aponeurosis vs. tendon
• tendon vs. ligament

Example Sentences

Achilles tendon pain, tennis elbow, swimmer's shoulder, and jumper's knee affect both young athletes and older adults.

From Science Daily

Cylindrical "forearms" house small electric motors, known as actuators, which pull on metal tendons that move the fingers with precision.

From BBC

Macleod was denied a Six Nations debut against Scotland in 2021 after suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon in training, shortly after his inclusion in the starting team was announced to the squad.

From Barron's

Not only did the Celtics lose that series to a hated rival—they also lost Tatum when he crumpled to the floor with a torn Achilles tendon.

From The Wall Street Journal

Using these comparisons, they estimated how large the Achilles tendon would need to be to absorb the forces generated during hopping by such heavy animals.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• hamstring
• ligament
• sinew
• tissue