pend

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA: /pɛnd/
• Rhymes: -ɛnd
• Homophone: penned

Etymology 1

From Middle French pendre (“to hang”), and its source, Late Latin pendere, 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.]

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.]

Translations

a large vaulted passageway

• Finnish: holvikäytävä (fi)

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

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French

Verb

pend

1. third-person singular present indicative of pendre

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Scots

Noun

pend (plural pends)

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