attend

[uh-tend]

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verb (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 or upon): to attend upon the Queen.

to follow; be consequent (usually followed by on or upon).

Obsolete. to wait.

Origin of attend

1250–1300; Middle English atenden < Anglo-French, Old French atendre < Latin attendere to bend to, notice. See at-, tend¹

Related formsat·tend·er, nounat·tend·ing·ly, adverbwell-at·tend·ed, adjective

Synonym study

4. See accompany.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for attended

visit, serve, watch, note, follow, hear, observe, accompany, catch, haunt, appear, frequent, show, nurse, doctor, mind, tend, notice, regard, mark

Examples from the Web for attended

Contemporary Examples of attended

Smith attended both funerals as a cop and as the husband of Police Officer Moira Smith, who died on 9/11.
The Muslim Cop Killed by Terrorists
Michael Daly
January 9, 2015
But how different would things have been 11 years later, when Scalise attended the Duke event?
Steve Scalise and the Right’s Ridiculous Racial Blame Game
Michael Tomasky
January 2, 2015
Correction: An earlier version of this article said John Lewis attended the event, not Elijah Cummings.
Capitol Hill's Black Staffers Walk Out to Say ‘Hands Up, Don't Shoot!’
Tim Mak
December 11, 2014
I ask Alexander Gilkes, referring to Prince William and Kate Middleton, whose wedding he attended.
William, Kate, and Jay Z’s Favorite Art Star: Alexander Gilkes' World of Rock Stars and Royalty
Tim Teeman
December 10, 2014
However, as she feared, The Bell Jar appeared to indifferent notices and the launch—which Ted attended—was rather low-key.
Ted Hughes’s Brother on Losing Sylvia Plath
Gerald Hughes
December 2, 2014

Historical Examples of attended

Eucoline, the daughter of Agatho, attended me, carrying a lighted torch.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
The prisoners came in, attended by the Phylarchi of their different wards.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
Cleonica, attended by Geta and Milza, travelled under the same protection.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
But for the stranger's presence it would have been attended to two hours earlier.
Brave and Bold
Horatio Alger
This was a wise resolution, and attended with the most salutary consequences.
A Sketch of the Life of Brig. Gen. Francis Marion
William Dobein James

British Dictionary definitions for attended

attend

verb

to be present at (an event, meeting, etc)

(when intr, foll by to) to give care; minister

(when intr, foll by to) to pay attention; listen

(tr; often passive) to accompany or followa high temperature attended by a severe cough

(intr; foll by on or upon) to follow as a consequence (of)

(intr foll by to) to devote one's time; apply oneselfto 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

(tr) archaic to wait for; expect

(intr) obsolete to delay

Derived Formsattender, noun

Word Origin for attend

C13: from Old French atendre, from Latin attendere to stretch towards, from tendere to extend

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for attended

attend

c.1300, "to direct one's mind or energies," from Old French atendre (12c., Modern French attendre) "to expect, wait for, pay attention," and directly from Latin attendere "give heed to," literally "to stretch toward," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + tendere "stretch" (see tenet). The notion is of "stretching" one's mind toward something. Sense of "take care of, wait upon" is from early 14c. Meaning "to pay attention" is early 15c.; that of "to be in attendance" is mid-15c. Related: Attended; attending.