Tendance

Tendance is a French noun that denotes a general direction or drift in which something is developing, as well as a fashion or current style. In English, the word is rarely used outside francophone contexts, where the closest equivalents are trend or tendency.

Etymology and senses: Tendance derives from the verb tendre (to stretch, to lean) with the suffix -ance, forming a noun that expresses a directional sense. In Modern French, it has several related meanings. It can refer to a broad movement or tendency in fields such as economics, politics, or culture (la tendance générale de l’économie, les tendances sociales). It can also signify an inclination or predisposition (avoir une tendance à faire quelque chose, une tendance naturelle). Additionally, tendance is commonly used to describe fashion and style, as in la tendance mode or les tendances de la saison.

Usage: In practice, tendance is used across domains to indicate what is becoming more prevalent or likely to occur. Examples include: la tendance du marché montre une hausse; cette tendance reflète les préférences des consommateurs; les tendances écologiques influencent les politiques publiques. The plural form tendances is often used to discuss multiple directions or movements.

Related terms: In English, équivalents include trend and tendency. In French, related concepts include courant, mouvement, and mode when referring to fashion, and tendance générale when describing overarching directions. Similar words exist in other Romance languages, such as tendenza in Italian and tendencia in Spanish.