mend

See also: mënd

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛnd/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• 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

• Bulgarian: кръпка (bg) f (krǎpka)
• Finnish: paikka (fi)
• Portuguese: remendo (pt) m

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

act of repairing

• Bulgarian: закърпване n (zakǎrpvane)
• Portuguese: conserto (pt) m, reparo (pt) m
• Russian: почи́нка (ru) f (počínka), (cloth) зашто́пывание (ru) n (zaštópyvanije), (cloth) што́пка (ru) f (štópka), лата́ние (ru) n (latánije), зала́тывание (ru) n (zalátyvanije)

• 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.

   • 1685, William Temple, Of Gardens

     [they] therefore thought all the Service they could do to the State they live under , was to mend the Lives and Manners of particular Men that composed it

3. (transitive) To help, to advance, to further; to add to.
   • 1707, John Mortimer, The whole Art of Husbandry, in the way of Managing and Improving of Land

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

   • c. 1605–1608, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act 1, scene 1]:

     You mend the jewel by the 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
• Bulgarian: поправям (bg) (popravjam)
• 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)
• Galician: reparar (gl)
• 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)
• Latin: sarciō
• 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

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

• Latin: sarciō
• 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

• Bulgarian: подобрявам (bg) (podobrjavam)
• 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

• Bulgarian: подобрявам се (podobrjavam se)
• 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'aḥot), ^{(please verify)} לתקן‎ (l'taken), ^{(please verify)} לשפר‎ (l'shaper)

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

Related terms

► English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European 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