pend

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle French pendre (“to hang”), from Late Latin pendĕre, from Latin pendēre.

Verb

pend (third-person singular simple present pends, present participle pending, simple past and past participle pended)

  1. (obsolete) To hang down. [15th-19th c.]
  2. (obsolete, Scotland) To arch over (something); to vault. [15th-18th c.]
  3. To hang; to depend.
    • I. Taylor
      pending upon certain powerful motions

Noun

pend (plural pends)

  1. (Scotland) An archway; especially, a vaulted passageway leading through a tenement-style building from the main street, giving access to the rear of the building or an internal courtyard. [from 15th c.]
Synonyms
  • For semantic relationships of this term, see alley in the Thesaurus.
Translations

Etymology 2

Compare pen (“to shut in”).

Verb

pend (third-person singular simple present pends, present participle pending, simple past and past participle pended)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To pen; to confine.
    • Udall
      Pended within the limits […] of Greece.

Etymology 3

Back-formation from pending.

Verb

pend (third-person singular simple present pends, present participle pending, simple past and past participle pended)

  1. (transitive) To consider pending; to delay or postpone (something). [from 20th c.]
    • 1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p. 817:
      The latest list of detainees would be pended and they would be allowed to return to their homes on a temporary basis.

Etymology 4

Noun

pend (uncountable)

  1. (India) oil cake

French

Verb

pend

  1. third-person singular present indicative of pendre

Scots

Noun

pend (plural pends)

  1. An arch, vault.
  2. A passageway between houses.

Spanish

Etymology

Shortening of pendejo

Noun

pend m, f (plural pends)

  1. (slang) dumbass; retard; plonker
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