subtend
/sʌbˈtɛnd/
"subtend" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“subtend” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To use an angle to delimit (mark off, enclose) part of a straight or curved line, for example an arc or the opposite side of a triangle.
Corpus desk
Index EN-subtend · subtend · English
subtend · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | subtend |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /sʌbˈtɛnd/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “subtend” in English
Rare enough to double-check
subtend is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /sʌbˈtɛnd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for subtend, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin subtendere, from sub (“under”) + tendere (“to stretch, extend”), itself a semantic loan from Ancient Greek ὑποτείνω (hupoteínō, “to subtend”), from which hypotenuse also derives. See tend. The correct English form is subtend, spelled S-U-B-T-E-N-D.
Definition
- 1To use an angle to delimit (mark off, enclose) part of a straight or curved line, for example an arc or the opposite side of a triangle.
- 2To extend or stretch opposite something; to be part of a straight or curved line that is opposite to and delimits an angle.
- 3To form the central angle of a circle underneath an arc.
- 4To stand beneath or close to, as a bract at the base of a flower.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how subtend appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
A 43° angle subtends an arc of about 0.75 meters on a circle with a radius of 1 meter.
A hypotenuse subtends the right angle of a right triangle.
Etymology
From Latin subtendere, from sub (“under”) + tendere (“to stretch, extend”), itself a semantic loan from Ancient Greek ὑποτείνω (hupoteínō, “to subtend”), from which hypotenuse also derives. See tend.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.