tent

¹

[ tent ]

noun

1. a portable shelter of skins, canvas, plastic, or the like, supported by one or more poles or a frame and often secured by ropes fastened to pegs in the ground.
2. something that resembles a tent.
3. tent dress.

verb (used with object)

1. to lodge in tents.
2. to cover with or as if with a tent:

   In winter the tennis courts are tented in plastic.

verb (used without object)

1. to live in a tent; encamp.

tent

²

[ tent ]

noun

1. a roll or pledget, usually of soft absorbent material, as lint or gauze, for dilating an orifice, keeping a wound open, etc.
2. a probe.

verb (used with object)

1. to keep (a wound) open with a tent.

tent

³

[ tent ]

verb (used with object)

, Chiefly Scot.

1. to give or pay attention to; heed.

tent

¹

/ tɛnt /

noun

1. a plug of soft material for insertion into a bodily canal, etc, to dilate it or maintain its patency

verb

1. tr to insert such a plug into (a bodily canal, etc)

tent

²

/ tɛnt /

noun

1. obsolete.
   a red table wine from Alicante, Spain

tent

³

/ tɛnt /

noun

1. heed; attention

verb

1. to pay attention to; take notice of
2. to attend to

tent

⁴

/ tɛnt /

noun

1. 1. a portable shelter of canvas, plastic, or other waterproof material supported on poles and fastened to the ground by pegs and ropes
   2. ( as modifier )

      tent peg

2. something resembling this in function or shape

verb

1. intr to camp in a tent
2. tr to cover with or as if with a tent or tents
3. tr to provide with a tent as shelter

Derived Forms

• ˈtenter, noun
• ˈtentˌlike, adjective
• ˈtentless, adjective
• ˈtented, adjective

Other Words From

• tentless adjective
• tentlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tent¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English tente, from Old French, from Latin tenta, feminine of tentus, past participle of tendere “to extend, stretch”

Origin of tent²

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English tent(e), teint(e) “a probe,” from Middle French tente “a probe, roll of lint,” noun derivative of tenter, from Latin tentāre, variant of temptāre tempt

Origin of tent³

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, tente(n), “to plan, intend, look after,” derivative of tent(e) “attention,” shortening of attent, past participle of attenden “to pay attention to, heed,” from Old French atente “attention, intention,” from Latin attenta, feminine of attentus, past participle of attendere to attend

Word History and Origins

Origin of tent¹

C14 (in the sense: a probe): from Old French tente (noun), ultimately from Latin temptāre to try; see tempt

Origin of tent²

C16: from Spanish tinto dark-coloured; see tint

Origin of tent³

C14: from attent attend and intent

Origin of tent⁴

C13: from Old French tente, from Latin tentōrium something stretched out, from tendere to stretch

Example Sentences

Finally, the future arrives in the Andes, at the ranch Hacienda El Porvenir, which translates as “the future,” where you’ll spend 24 hours venturing no more than 30 feet from a tent, alone, with a journal.

From Outside Online

Over the course of 16 days, it’s what kept my key items—a sleeping bag, pillow, tent, cell phone, and journal—dry.

From Outside Online

Maghsoodnia notes that having separate buildings, tents or dorms to quarantine sick students is a big challenge for universities.

From Fortune

Investing thousands of dollars in tents, fans and evaporative cooling equipment, they’ve managed to hide from the sun, keep social distancing and maintain business.

From Ozy

Give people a peek inside of the tent who think they know but don’t know.

From Ozy

Wedged between two marble buildings at the lavishly designed Lincoln Center, sits a single white tent.

From The Daily Beast

While quarantined, she was seemingly powerless to challenge her banishment to a tent in Newark.

From The Daily Beast

But there remains an underlying air of stress, from the media tent to the concession stands.

From The Daily Beast

Santorum embraced a more pragmatic big-tent approach to these candidates.

From The Daily Beast

The smaller “Flood Wall Street” eschewed the big-tent approach and focused on radical politics and aggressive activism.

From The Daily Beast

The Duchess had also a tent for their sick men; so that we had a small town of our own here, and every body employed.

From Project Gutenberg

Two young lovers were exchanging their hearts' yearnings beneath the children's tent, which they had found unoccupied.

From Project Gutenberg

The children possessed themselves of the tent, and Mrs. Pontellier went over to join them.

From Project Gutenberg

It was a sad day for Ramona and Alessandro when the kindly Hyers pulled up their tent-stakes and left the valley.

From Project Gutenberg

They lived at first in a tent; no time to build a house, till the wheat and vegetables were planted.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• canvas
• pavilion