attend
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to be present at.
to attend a lecture; to attend church.
-
to go with as a concomitant or result; accompany.
Fever may attend a cold. Success attended her hard work.
-
to take care of; minister to; devote one's services to.
The nurse attended the patient daily.
-
to wait upon; accompany as a companion or servant.
The retainers attended their lord.
-
to take charge of; watch over; look after; tend; guard.
to attend one's health.
-
to listen to; give heed to.
-
Archaic. to wait for; expect.
verb (used without object)
-
to take care or charge.
to attend to a sick person.
-
to apply oneself.
to attend to one's work.
-
to pay attention; listen or watch attentively; direct one's thought; pay heed.
to attend to a speaker.
-
to be present.
She is a member but does not attend regularly.
-
to be present and ready to give service; wait (usually followed by on orupon ).
to attend upon the Queen.
-
to follow; be consequent (usually followed by on orupon ).
-
Obsolete. to wait.
verb
-
to be present at (an event, meeting, etc)
-
to give care; minister
-
to pay attention; listen
-
(tr; often passive) to accompany or follow
a high temperature attended by a severe cough
-
(intr; foll by on or upon) to follow as a consequence (of)
-
to devote one's time; apply oneself
to attend to the garden
-
(tr) to escort or accompany
-
(intr; foll by on or upon) to wait (on); serve; provide for the needs (of)
to attend on a guest
-
archaic (tr) to wait for; expect
-
obsolete (intr) to delay
Synonym Usage
See accompany.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
attendsimple
-
attendssimple
-
have attendedperfect
-
has attendedperfect
-
am attendingprogressive
-
are attendingprogressive
-
is attendingprogressive
-
have been attendingperfect progressive
-
has been attendingperfect progressive
Past
-
attendedsimple
-
had attendedperfect
-
was attendingprogressive
-
were attendingprogressive
-
had been attendingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of attend
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English atenden, from Anglo-French, Old French atendre, from Latin attendere “to bend to, notice,” from at- at- + tendere “to stretch, extend, proceed”; cf. tend 1
Explanation
The verb attend means to be present, to listen, or give care or attention to. You can attend your family reunion, attend to a project you've been ignoring, or attend to your teacher's voice. When you use attend as "pay attention" or "take care of," it's followed by "to." When you use attend as in "attend a party," you don't. If you attend a political rally, you'll want to attend to what the politicians have to say. When you take attendance, you are checking which students have chosen to attend class, i.e. who is in attendance.
Vocabulary lists containing attend
"The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Mother's Day Words: What Mothers Do
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Related: Do I use $300,000 of my $1.2 million retirement savings so my daughter can attend her dream college?
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
Among those who had travelled to Delhi was commercial pilot Samrat Khanna, who said he had swapped flying duties to attend the march.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
The royal household had also yet to confirm whether the king would attend the celebrations.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
Vitalii Vyshnevskiy, an engineer with DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, was called this spring to attend the aftermath of a strike on one of Odesa’s substations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
“I attend the West Virginia Colored Institute, ma’am.”
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
Last week Mr. Mamdani was asked on “The Interview” podcast what to expect if Mr. Netanyahu attends.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Negrete, who attends Rio Vista Elementary, was one of the lucky few who joined the U.S. team before its 4-1 win over Paraguay.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
The position was created by statute in the 1800s; the marshal serves as the chief of police for the court, attends each court session, and handles ministerial duties, like paying the justices and their staffs.
From Slate ● Jul. 15, 2026
Wearing sunglasses and dressed with care, Burin resident Qusai Walid Eid summarises the feeling, saying he attends the festival every year to strengthen "our roots in this land".
From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026
Isabel attends to me like a sister who expects to become an aunt.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
Donald Trump Jr. attended, as did Eric Trump and his wife Lara, who was then co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
He attended the February council meeting on Shoreditch Works, which went late into the evening.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
"Ideas have been conveyed to us by certain mediators," he told a press conference in Tehran attended by AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
Students who attended for-profit colleges struggle more than others to pay back their loans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Except that there it was, at the bottom: a graduate of the same school that Adek and I had attended.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
Notably, Liverpool signed now-England youth international Rio Ngumoha from Chelsea in 2024, prompting restrictions on youth scouts from a number of rival clubs attending matches.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
If attending a more expensive college is important to her, it’s not up to you to make that happen.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
Finally, we offer this series as a provocation: So many of you have spent the past year attending No Kings protests, at which you embodied, physically, what it means to reject monarchical power.
From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026
Ferrer and Scripps biological oceanographer Lisa Levin, the study's senior author, developed the idea for the review after attending COP25, the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Madrid.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026
His first clue that the charrette was going to be something entirely different from the meetings he had been attending for years occurred during the third gathering of the steering committee.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
