mend (v.)

c. 1200, "to repair" (clothes, a tool, a building), "remove defects" (from something broken, defaced, deranged, or worn), from a shortened form of Old French amender "correct, set right, make better, improve" (see amend). Meaning "to put right, atone for (faults and errors), amend (one's life), repent" is from c. 1300. Intransitive sense of "to grow better, improve" is from late 14c. Related: Mended; mending.

also from c. 1200

mend (n.)

early 14c., "recompense, reparation," a shortened form of amends. Sense of "a remedy, cure" (now obsolete) is from mid-14c., from mend (v.). Meaning "act of mending; a repaired hole or rip in fabric" is from 1888. Phrase on the mend "on the path to recovering from sickness, improving in condition" is attested by 1802.

also from early 14c.

Entries linking to mend

amend (v.)

early 13c., amenden, "to free from faults, rectify," from Old French amender "correct, set right, make better, improve" (12c.), from Latin emendare "to correct, free from fault," from ex "out" (see ex-) + menda, mendum "fault, physical blemish; error," from PIE *mend- "physical defect, fault" (source also of Sanskrit minda "physical blemish," Old Irish mennar "stain, blemish," Welsh mann "sign, mark;" Hittite mant- "something harming").

The spelling with a- is unusual but early and also is found in Provençal and Italian. In English, the word has been supplanted in senses of "repair; cure" by its shortened offspring mend (v.). The meaning "to add to legislation" (ostensibly to correct or improve it) is recorded from 1777. Related: Amended; amending.

amends (n.)

early 14c., "recompense, compensation for loss or injury," collective singular, from Old French amendes "fine, penalty, reparation, compensation," plural of amende "reparation," from amender "to amend" (see amend).

mendable

mender

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Trends of mend

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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repair

"to mend, put back in order, restore to a sound, good, or complete condition," mid-14c., reparen, from Old French reparer "repair, mend" (12c.) and directly from Latin reparare "restore, put back in order," from re- "again" (see re-) + parare "make ready, prepare" (from PIE root

fix

late 14c., "set (one's eyes or mind) on something" (a figurative use), probably from Old French verb *fixer, from fixe "fixed," from Latin fixus "fixed, fast, immovable; established, settled," past-participle adjective from figere "to fix, fasten, drive, thrust in; pierce through

bushel

early 14c., busshel, measure of capacity containing four pecks or eight gallons, from Old French boissel "bushel" (13c., Modern French boisseau), probably from boisse, a grain measure based on Gallo-Roman *bostia "handful," from Gaulish *bosta "palm of the hand" (compare Irish ba

mendacious

from mendax (genitive mendacis) "lying, deceitful," from menda "fault, defect, carelessness in writing," from PIE root *mend...

clout

Old English clut "lump of something," also "patch of cloth put over a hole to mend it," from Proto-Germanic *klutaz (source...

point

From mid-15c. as "to stitch, mend."...

sartorial

also of French sartre "tailor"), literally "patcher, mender," from Latin sart-, past participle stem of sarcire "to patch, mend...

vamp

"extemporize on a piano," 1789, from vamp (n.1) "upper part of a shoe or boot," via verbal sense of "provide a stocking (later a shoe) with a new vamp" (1590s), then "patch up, repair" (compare revamp). Related: Vamped; vamping...."seductive woman who exploits men," 1915, popular

reconstruction

1791, "action or process of reconstructing," noun of action to go with reconstruct. In U.S. history, usually with a capital R-, it has been used from 1865 in reference to the process (lasting until about 1870) by which the states which had seceded were restored to the rights and

lose

Old English losian "be lost, perish," from los "destruction, loss," from Proto-Germanic *lausa- (source also of Old Norse los "the breaking up of an army;" Old English forleosan "to lose, destroy," Old Frisian forliasa, Old Saxon farliosan, Middle Dutch verliesen, Old High German

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updated on December 22, 2018

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Dictionary entries near mend

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menagerie

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mend

mendable

mendacious

mendacity

mendelevium

Mendelism