intendre

Intendre is a term that appears infrequently in modern usage and is not recognized as a standard word in contemporary French or English dictionaries. In linguistic and historical contexts, it is usually encountered as a rare or archaic spelling variant rather than as a distinct, widely used lexeme. Because of limited attestations, intendre is more commonly discussed as a historical curiosity than as a living term.

Etymology and senses

The form is related to the Latin verb intendere, meaning to stretch toward, to direct, or to aim. In the family of Romance languages, the root gave rise to words connected with intention and perception. In Old French texts, spellings resembling intendre sometimes co-occurred with the more common entendre, which means to hear, listen, or understand. In later usage, the standard modern French forms became ent ends and intension-related terms such as intention, with ent end becoming the normal verb for “to hear/understand” and “to intend” expressed through specific constructions rather than a single verb.

Usage and scope

Because intendre is not part of standard modern usage, credible references generally treat it as an historical footnote or a potential spelling variant found in manuscripts. It may appear in discussion of etymology or in philological work examining alternate spellings in early texts. In practice, readers seeking to express “to intend” in French would use avoir l’intention de or prévoir, rather than intendre.

See also

Entendre, Intention, Intendere (Latin).