Tenir etymology

French

French word tenir comes from Proto-Indo-European *tengʰ-, and later Proto-Indo-European *tetóne (To be stretched, extended.)

Etymology of tenir

Detailed word origin of tenir

Dictionary entry Language Definition
*tengʰ- Proto-Indo-European (ine)
tener Latin (lat) (poetic) erotic. Effeminate, sensitive. Soft, delicate, tender. Young, youthful.
*tetóne Proto-Indo-European (ine) To be stretched, extended.
*tenēō Proto-Italic (itc-pro) Hold.
teneo Latin (lat) (of laws) I am binding on; bind, hold, obligate. (reflexive) I keep back, remain, stay, hold position. I comprise, contain, include, hold. I hold fast, restrain, detain, check, control; bind, fetter. I hold, have; grasp. I insist, uphold. I know, grasp, understand, conceive. I possess, occupy, control. I reach, attain; gain, acquire, obtain. I recollect, retain knowledge of, remember, bear [...]
*tenīre Vulgar Latin (la-vul)
*tenio Latin (lat) (Vulgar Latin, Gallo-Romance) I have, possess.. (Vulgar Latin, Gallo-Romance) I hold.
tenir Old French (fro) To hold. To possess; to have.
tenir Middle French (frm) To hold.
tenir French (fr) (followed by the preposition à) to be attached to something, to be fond of something, to hold something dear. (intransitive) to stay; to hold. (reflexive) to behave. (reflexive) to hold oneself, to be standing. (reflexive) to maintain, remain in a certain position or disposition. (reflexive, Quebec, slang) to hang out. (reflexive, uncommon) to hold on. (transitive) to have; to hold. [...]