tendon
Americannoun
-
Anatomy. a cord or band of dense, tough, inelastic, white, fibrous tissue, serving to connect a muscle with a bone or part; sinew.
-
a reinforcing strand in prestressed concrete.
noun
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:
Explanation
If you feel the back of your ankle, you will find the tough, ropelike tendon that joins your calf muscle to your heel bone. That's the job of tendons throughout your body: connecting bone and muscle so you can move. Consider that the Latin word tendere means "to stretch." That's an apt beginning for the word tendon, a tough but stretchy fibrous tissue (sinew). A tendon is made of dense bundles of fibrous collagen that form ropelike connectors that allow muscles and bones to work together. Athletes often suffer injuries to tendons, most often to the rotator cuff in the shoulder, the Achilles tendon in the leg, the patellar tendon in the knee, and the biceps muscle in the arm.
Vocabulary lists containing tendon
Human Anatomy and Physiology - Introductory
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Divergent
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Human Anatomy and Physiology - High School
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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.
"My knee was destroyed. The tendon basically had a hole in it," Nadal said.
From BBC • May 29, 2026
He was suffering from a strained tendon in his right ankle resting at home when his ice cream manager called with a request for assistance.
From Los Angeles Times • May 17, 2026
It was while operating on those aerial artists that he learned an approach that left the repaired tendon tighter than the one in the healthy leg, so that the rehabilitation process wouldn’t stretch it slack.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026
Woods, who turned 50 last December, has been working to return from an Achilles tendon rupture last March and back surgery last October.
From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026
The Inka bola consisted of three stones tied to lengths of llama tendon.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
