tender

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   young and immature

   at a tender age

2. 2
   adj

   mildly painful

   After getting my flu shot, I had a tender spot on my arm.

3. 3
   adj

   easy to cut or chew

   tender beef

4. 4
   adj

   physically untoughened

   tender feet

5. 5
   adj

   given to sympathy or gentleness or sentimentality

   a tender heart

6. 6
   verb

   make tender or more tender as by marinating, pounding, or applying a tenderizer

   tenderize meat

7. 7
   adj

   Sensitive or painful to the touch.

   […]poore Lord, is't I That chaſe thee from thy Countrie, and expoſe Thoſe tender limbes of thine[…]

8. 8
   adj

   Easily bruised or injured; not firm or hard; delicate.

   tender plants

Etymology

From Middle English tender, tendere, from Anglo-Norman tender, Old French tendre, from Latin tener, tenerum (“soft, delicate”).