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tense
tense [O.Fr., from Lat.,=time], in the grammar of many languages, a category of time distinctions expressed by any conjugated form of a verb. In Latin inflection the tense of a verb is indicated by a suffix that also indicates the verb's voice , mood , person, and number. Tense specifies whether the verb refers to action in the past, present, or future. A tenselike distinction found in many languages (e.g., Russian and Hebrew) is that of aspect, by which verbs specify whether or not the action has been completed; thus, he is risen might be translated by a verb in the perfective aspect, and he is rising by the same verb in the imperfective aspect. Aspect also refers to the distinction that a verb can make between repeated or ongoing action ( he ran daily ) and an event represented as occurring at a single point in time ( he ran that race ). Some terms borrowed from Greek grammar into English suggest aspectlike differences of meaning; these are imperfect ( I was reading when … ), perfect ( I've read the book ), and aorist ( I read it last year ). English tenses can also be classified as simple (e.g., look and looked ) or compound (e.g., have looked,am looking, and will look ). Any conjugated form of a verb that indicates tense is said to be finite; the infinitive is a special verb form that lacks all tense (as well as mood, person, and number), although it may indicate the active ( to read ) or passive ( to be read ) voice. |
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"tense." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "tense." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-tense.html "tense." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-tense.html |
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tense
tense1 / tens/ • adj. (esp. of a muscle or someone's body) stretched tight or rigid: she tried to relax her tense muscles. ∎ (of a person) unable to relax because of nervousness, anxiety, or stimulation: he was tense with excitement. ∎ (of a situation, event, etc.) causing or showing anxiety and nervousness: relations between the two neighboring states had been tense in recent years. ∎ Phonet. (of a speech sound, esp. a vowel) pronounced with the vocal muscles stretched tight.The opposite of lax. • v. [intr.] become tense, typically through anxiety or nervousness: her body tensed up. ∎ [tr.] make (a muscle or one's body) tight or rigid: carefully stretch and then tense your muscles. DERIVATIVES: tense·ly adv. tense·ness n. ten·si·ty / ˈtensitē/ n. ( dated ). tense2 • n. Gram. a set of forms taken by a verb to indicate the time (and sometimes also the continuance or completeness) of the action in relation to the time of the utterance: the past tense. DERIVATIVES: tense·less adj. |
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"tense." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "tense." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-tense.html "tense." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-tense.html |
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tense
tense2 drawn tight XVII; highly strung XIX. — L. tensus, pp. of tendere stretch, TEND2.
So tensile ductile XVII; pert. to tension XIX. — medL. tension XVI. — F. or L. Hence tensor (-OR1) (anat.) muscle that tightens some part XVIII; (math.) in quaternions XIX. |
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Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "tense." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "tense." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-tense1.html T. F. HOAD. "tense." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-tense1.html |
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tense
tense1 †time; (gram.) form of a verb indicating time. XIV. — OF. tens (mod. temps) :- L. tempus time.
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Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "tense." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "tense." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-tense.html T. F. HOAD. "tense." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-tense.html |
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tense
tense
•askance, expanse, finance, Hans, Hanse, manse, nance, Penzance, Romance
•underpants • happenstance
•advance, Afrikaans, à outrance, chance, dance, enhance, entrance, faience, France, glance, lance, mischance, outdance, perchance, prance, Provence, stance, trance
•nuance • tap-dance • square dance
•freelance • convenance
•cense, commence, common sense, condense, dense, dispense, expense, fence, hence, Hortense, immense, offence (US offense), pence, prepense, pretence (US pretense), sense, spence, suspense, tense, thence, whence
•ring-fence • recompense
•frankincense
•chintz, convince, evince, Linz, mince, Port-au-Prince, prince, quince, rinse, since, Vince, wince
•province
•bonce, ensconce, nonce, ponce, response, sconce
•séance • pièce de résistance
•announce, bounce, denounce, flounce, fluid ounce, jounce, mispronounce, ounce, pounce, pronounce, renounce, trounce
•dunce, once
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Cite this article
"tense." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "tense." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-tense.html "tense." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-tense.html |
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