a. and sb. arch. Also 4 -aunt, 7 (improp.) -ent. [Aphetic f. ATTENDANT.]
A. adj. Attending, giving attention or service, waiting (upon).
13[?]. Cursor M., 19034 (Gött.). Thre hundreth men and wiuis, Þat desseli bath late and are Þar tendant to þe apostlisware.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), III. 279. Socrates, þat was alway tendaunt to a spirit þat was i-cleped demon.
1592. Warner, Alb. Eng., VIII. xliii. (1612), 206. Henry the second vpon whom the Scotch-King tendant was.
1824. Wiffen, Tasso, II. lvii. Tendant on each knight Rode many a page and armour-bearer bold.
B. sb. An attendant.
1586. Day, Eng. Secretary, II. (1625), 111. A farre other end and purpose, then of euery ordinary tendant is commonly required.
1614. T. Adams, Devil’s Banquet, 24. Great men are vnmercifull to their Tenants, that they may be ouer-mercifull to their Tendents; that stretch them as fast as they retch the others.
1632. Vicars, Æneid, IV. 114. Her tendants saw her fal’n upon her sword.
1649. Book of Oaths, 185–6. Ye shall be diligent, obedient, and as Tendant to the Deputy of the said Towne and Marches for the time being.
