tender, tendre

& s. [Fr. tendre (formed with excrescent d after n, as in gender, thunder, .), from Lat. tenerum, acc us. of tener =tender, thin, fine; allied to tenuis =thin, fine; Sp. tier no; Port. terno; Ital. tenero.] A. As adjective : 1. Easily impre ed, broken, bruised, or the like; delicate; not hard or firm. "Those tender limbs of thine." Shakesp.: All's Well, iii. 2. 2. Not hard or tough; as, The meat is tender. 3. Delicate, effeminate; not hardy; not able to endure hardship. "The dark oppre ive steam ascends; And, used to milder scents, the tender race, By you sands, tumble from their honied domes." Thomson: Autumn , 1,180. 4. Delicate in health; weakly. ( Scotch .) 5. Very sensible of impre ion or pain; very susceptible of any sensation; easily pained or hurt. "Your soft and tender breeding." Shakesp.: Twelfth Night, v. 6. Susceptible of the softer pa ions, as love, compa ion, kindne ; easily affected by the sufferings or distre of another; compa ionate, pitiful, sympathetic. "But so inconsistent is human nature that there are tender spots even in seared consciences." -Macaulay: Hist. Eng., ch. vii. 7. Expre ive of the softer pa ions; adapted or calculated to excite feeling or sympathy; affecting, pathetic. 8. Gentle, mild, kind; unwilling to hurt; loving, fond. "Bid her be all that cheers or softens life, The tender sister, daughter, friend and wife." Pope : Epistle to Mr. Jervas, 40. 9. Using language or having a style characterized by a certain softne or pathos. *10. Exciting concern; dear, precious. "Whose life's as tender to me as my soul." Shakesp.: Two Gentlemen of Verona, v. 4. 11. Careful to save inviolate, or not to injure. (With of . ) "Ermin'd candour, tender of our fame." Smart: Horatian Canons of Friendship. 12. Not strong through immaturity; immature, feeble. "No train is his beyond a single page, Of foreign aspect and of tender age." Byron: Lara, i. 4. 13. Apt to give pain or annoy when spoken of; delicate, sore. "In things that are tender and unpleasing, break the ice by some whose words are of le weight."- Bacon . *14. Quick, sharp, keen. "Unapt for tender smell." Shakesp.: Rape of Lucrece , 695, *B. As subst.: A tenderne , a regard, an affection. "I had a kind of a tender for Dolly."-Cent livre: Man's Bewitched , v. *tender-bodied, a. Having a tender body; very young. *tender-dying, a. Dying in early youth. "When death doth close his tender - dying eyes." Shakesp.: Henry VI., Pt . I. , iii. 8. *tender-feeling, a. Very sensitive or delicate. "To tread them with her tender - feeling feet." Shakesp.: Henry VI., Pt. II ., ii. 4.