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attend

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

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Letters

6 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "attend", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "attend" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "attend" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

attend is aEnglishverb. It means: Senses relating to caring for or waiting on someone, or accompanying or being present. Pronounced /əˈtɛnd/. It ranks #2,714 in English word frequency. Often confused with attest and attuned.

Key facts for attend
PropertyValue
Headwordattend
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/əˈtɛnd/
Letters6
Frequency rank#2,714
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs10
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of attend in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for attend is 6 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈtɛnd/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,714 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 22 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for attend, with forms such as "atend", "atetnd", and "attedn". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 10 confusable-pair relationships, "attest", "attuned", "attended", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *h₂éd From Middle English attenden, atenden (“to devote oneself (to a task, etc.); to pay attention to (something), to look after; to consider (something); to expect or look forward to (something); to intend to do (something); to help or serve (so… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is attend, spelled A-T-T-E-N-D, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Senses relating to caring for or waiting on someone, or accompanying or being present.
  2. 2
    Senses relating to caring for or waiting on someone, or accompanying or being present.
  3. 3
    Senses relating to caring for or waiting on someone, or accompanying or being present.
  4. 4
    Senses relating to caring for or waiting on someone, or accompanying or being present.
  5. 5
    Senses relating to caring for or waiting on someone, or accompanying or being present.
  6. 6
    Senses relating to caring for or waiting on someone, or accompanying or being present.
  7. 7
    Senses relating to caring for or waiting on someone, or accompanying or being present.
  8. 8
    Senses relating to caring for or waiting on someone, or accompanying or being present.
  9. 9
    Senses relating to caring for or waiting on someone, or accompanying or being present.
  10. 10
    Senses relating to caring for or waiting on someone, or accompanying or being present.
  11. 11
    Senses relating to caring for or waiting on someone, or accompanying or being present.
  12. 12
    Senses relating to directing one's attention.
  13. 13
    Senses relating to directing one's attention.
  14. 14
    Senses relating to directing one's attention.
  15. 15
    Senses relating to directing one's attention.
  16. 16
    Senses relating to waiting for something.
  17. 17
    Senses relating to waiting for something.
  18. 18
    Senses relating to waiting for something.
  19. 19
    Senses relating to waiting for something.
  20. 20
    Senses relating to waiting for something.
  21. 21
    Senses relating to waiting for something.
  22. 22
    To intend (something).

Etymology

PIE word *h₂éd From Middle English attenden, atenden (“to devote oneself (to a task, etc.); to pay attention to (something), to look after; to consider (something); to expect or look forward to (something); to intend to do (something); to help or serve (someone), attend upon; to take care of (something)”), from Old French atendre (“to await, wait for; to expect; to intend”), from Latin attendere, adtendere (“to pay attention to, attend; to direct or turn toward”), from ad- (“prefix meaning ‘to, towards’”) + tendō (“to direct one’s course; to extend, stretch; to exert, strive”). Doublet of attempt and tend.

This word in other languages

Spanish(Español)Portuguese(Português)French(Français)German(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: atend,atetnd,attedn,attendd,attennd,attned,tatend

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for attend

Misspelling Variants of "attend"

atend5atetnd6attedn6attendd7attennd7attned6tatend6
Misspelling Variants of "attend"

Frequency rank: #2,714 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "attend"?
"attend" is spelled A-T-T-E-N-D. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈtɛnd/.
What does "attend" mean?
As a verb, "attend" means: Senses relating to caring for or waiting on someone, or accompanying or being present.
What words are commonly confused with "attend"?
"attend" is commonly confused with "attest", "attuned", "attended". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "attend"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "attend" is /əˈtɛnd/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "attend"?
PIE word *h₂éd From Middle English attenden, atenden (“to devote oneself (to a task, etc.); to pay attention to (something), to look after; to consider (something); to expect or look forward to (something); to intend to do (something); to help or... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.