mend

See also: mënd

English

Etymology

From Middle English menden, by apheresis for amenden (“to amend”); see amend.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛnd/
• Rhymes: -ɛnd

Noun

mend (plural mends)

1. A place, as in clothing, which has been repaired by mending.
2. The act of repairing.

   My trousers have a big rip in them and need a mend.

Derived terms

• on the mend

Translations

place or tear repaired in clothing

• Finnish: paikka (fi)
• Portuguese: remendo (pt) m

• Russian: запла́тка (ru) f (zaplátka), (rarely) запла́та (ru) f (zapláta), заши́тая (ru) (zašítaja) ды́рка (ru) (dýrka)
• Spanish: remiendo (es) m

act of repairing

• Portuguese: conserto (pt) m, reparo (pt) m
• Russian: почи́нка (ru) f (počínka), (cloth) зашто́пывание (ru) n (zashtópyvaniye), (cloth) што́пка (ru) f (shtópka), лата́ние (ru) n (latániye), зала́тывание (ru) n (zalátyvaniye)

• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

Verb

mend (third-person singular simple present mends, present participle mending, simple past and past participle mended)

1. (transitive) To repair, as anything that is torn, broken, defaced, decayed, or the like; to restore from partial decay, injury, or defacement.

   My trousers have a big rip in them and need mending.

   When your car breaks down, you can take it to the garage to have it mended.

2. (transitive) To alter for the better; to set right; to reform; hence, to quicken; as, to mend one's manners or pace.

   Her stutter was mended by a speech therapist.

   My broken heart was mended.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Sir W. Temple

     The best service they could do the state was to mend the lives of the persons who composed it.

3. (transitive) To help, to advance, to further; to add to.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Mortimer

     Though in some lands the grass is but short, yet it mends garden herbs and fruit.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare

     You mend the jewel by wearing it.

   • 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:

     But my lord was angry, and being disguised with liquor too, he would not let him go till they played more; and play they did, and the luck still went the same way; and my lord grew fierce over it, and cursed and drank, and that did not mend his luck you may be sure […]

4. (intransitive) To grow better; to advance to a better state; to become improved.

Derived terms

• least said, soonest mended
• mend one's pace

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:repair

Translations

to repair

• Albanian: arnoj (sq)
• Arabic: أَصْلَحَ‎ (ʾaṣlaḥa)

  Egyptian Arabic: صلح‎ (ṣallaḥ)

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: reparar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 修補 (zh), 修补 (zh) (xiūbǔ), 修改 (zh) (xiūgǎi), 修理 (zh) (xiūlǐ)

• Czech: opravit (cs), spravit (cs)
• Danish: reparere (da), (informally) fikse
• Dutch: repareren (nl), herstellen (nl)
• Finnish: kunnostaa (fi), korjata (fi), kohentaa (fi), parantaa (fi)
• French: réparer (fr), raccommoder (fr)
• German: reparieren (de), flicken (de)
• Greek: επισκευάζω (el) (episkevázo)

  Ancient: καταρτίζω (katartízō)

• Hindi: ठीक करना (ṭhīk karnā)
• Hungarian: megjavít (hu)
• Irish: deisigh, ceartaigh
• Italian: riparare (it)

• Japanese: 直す (ja) (なおす, naosu), 修理する (ja) (しゅうりする, shūri-suru)
• Korean: 수리하다 (ko) (suri-hada), 고치다 (ko) (gochida)
• Lao: ຊ່ອມ (sǭm)
• Persian: درست کردن‎ (fa) (dorost kardan)
• Plautdietsch: flekjen
• Portuguese: consertar (pt), reparar (pt)
• Romanian: repara (ro), drege (ro)
• Russian: исправля́ть (ru) impf (ispravljátʹ), испра́вить (ru) pf (isprávitʹ), чини́ть (ru) impf (činítʹ), почини́ть (ru) pf (počinítʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: càirich
• Spanish: remendar (es), emendar, reparar (es)
• Swahili: kutengeneza
• Swedish: reparera (sv)
• Thai: ซ่อม (th) (sɔ̂m)
• Turkish: onarmak (tr), tamir etmek (tr)
• Urdu: ٹھیک کرنا‎ (ṭhīk karnā)
• Vietnamese: sửa chữa (vi)

to repair a tear in clothing

• Danish: lappe
• Finnish: paikata (fi)
• French: rapiécer (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• Italian: rammendare (it)

• Maori: tapi, tapitapi, pāpaki
• Portuguese: remendar (pt)
• Russian: зашивать (ru) (zašivatʹ), заштопывать (ru) (zaštopyvatʹ)
• Spanish: remendar (es)
• Vietnamese: vá (vi), khâu (vi)

to alter for the better; to set right; to reform; hence, to quicken

• Danish: forbedre (da)
• Dutch: verbeteren (nl), herstellen (nl)

• Finnish: korjata (fi)
• Maori: whakapai

To help, to advance, to further; to add to

• Finnish: parantaa (fi)

to grow better; to advance to a better state; to become improved

• Finnish: parantua (fi)
• Portuguese: melhorar (pt)

• Russian: улучша́ться (ru) (ulučšátʹsja)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} לאחות‎ (l'ɑḥot), ^{(please verify)} לתקן‎ (l'tɑken), ^{(please verify)} לשפר‎ (l'shɑper)

• Norman: ^{(please verify)} r'graie (Jersey), ^{(please verify)} racc'moder (Jersey)

Related terms

► English terms derived from the PIE root *mend-‎ (0 c, 10 e)

Further reading

• mend in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• mend in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• mend at OneLook Dictionary Search