tenir

• tindre, tendre

Inherited from Early Medieval Latin tenīre, from Classical Latin tenēre with change of conjugation to -ir also found in Occitan and French.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [təˈni]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [teˈniɾ]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

tenir (first-person singular present tinc, first-person singular preterite tinguí, past participle tingut); root stress: (Central, Valencia, Balearic) /e/

1. to have, possess
2. to hold

• “tenir”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “tenir”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “tenir” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “tenir” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• tegnir (ORB, broad)

Inherited from Early Medieval Latin tenīre.

tenir (ORB, broad)

1. to hold

• tenir in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
• tenir in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

Inherited from Middle French tenir, from Old French tenir, from Early Medieval Latin tenīre, from Classical Latin tenēre.

• IPA^(key): /tə.niʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

tenir

1. (transitive) to have; to hold
2. (transitive) to keep
3. (intransitive) to stay; to hold

   tenir bon ― to hold fast, to hold tight

4. (reflexive) to hold on [with à ‘to something’]

   La vie ne tient qu'à un fil. ― Life hangs but by a thread.

   Elle descend en se tenant aux racines. ― She comes down using the roots for handles (literally, “She comes down holding on to the roots.”)

5. (reflexive) to hold oneself, to be standing

   Il se tenait dans le coin. ― He stood in the corner.

6. (reflexive) to maintain, remain in a certain position or disposition

   Tiens-toi droit ! ― Keep yourself straight!

   Elle se tient immobile sur la corde raide. ― She stays still on the tightrope.

7. (reflexive) to behave

   Synonym: se comporter

   Tiens-toi bien. ― Behave yourself.

8. (intransitive) to be attached (to), to be fond (of), to hold dear [with à ‘someone/something’]
9. (intransitive) to hold dear, to be keen (about), to insist (upon) [with à (+ infinitive) or à ce que (+ subjunctive clause) ‘to do something’]
   • 1943, Antoine Saint-Exupéry, chapter X, in Le petit prince [The Little Prince], New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, page 43:

     Car le roi tenait essentiellement à ce que son autorité fût respectée.

     For what the king fundamentally insisted upon was that his authority should be respected.

10. (transitive) to consider (something) [with pour ‘as’]

    se le tenir pour dit ― to take it as read

    tenir quelque chose pour acquis ― to take something for granted

    tenir quelqu'un pour rien ― to see someone as insignificant, to treat someone as insignificant

11. (intransitive) to support [with pour ‘someone’]
12. (intransitive) to hold, to defend [with contre ‘against something’]
13. (reflexive, Quebec, slang) to hang out, to hang around [with avec ‘with someone’]
    • 1975, “Le Vent de la ville”, in Passagers‎^[1], performed by Beau Dommage, Capitol Record, ST-70.055 [V], 4XL56355 [K7], CDL-56355 [CD]:

      J'me tenais dans l’ouest de la ville, ça me fait plus peur l’exil

      I used to hang out in the west end; exile doesn't scare me anymore.

    • 1995, “On jase de toi”, in Noir Silence‎^[2], performed by Noir Silence, Disques MPV, MPVCD-1353:

      Regarde donc ce qu'est devenu le p'tit gars d'à côté // Y se tient avec une gang de drogués

      Look what happened with the boy next door // He hangs around with a bunch of drug addicts

This is a verb in a group of -ir verbs. All verbs ending in -tenir, such as contenir and détenir, are conjugated this way. Such verbs are the only verbs whose the past historic and subjunctive imperfect endings do not start in one of these thematic vowels (-a-, -i-, -u-).

This is a verb in a group of -ir verbs. All verbs ending in -tenir, such as contenir and détenir, are conjugated this way. Such verbs are the only verbs whose the past historic and subjunctive imperfect endings do not start in one of these thematic vowels (-a-, -i-, -u-).

• Saint Dominican Creole French: tini

• “tenir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• nitre, rient, terni, Terni

tenir

1. past infinitive of tenar

From Old French tenir.

tenir

1. to hold

• French: tenir
  • Saint Dominican Creole French: tini

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (tenir, supplement)

From Old French tenir, from Early Medieval Latin tenīre, from Classical Latin tenēre.

tenir

1. to possess; to have
2. to hold

From Old Occitan tenir, from Early Medieval Latin tenīre, from Latin tenēre.

• Audio (Languedoc):

  (file)

tenir

1. alternative form of téner

• tenoir (rare; < Latin tenēre)

Inherited from Early Medieval Latin tenīre, from Classical Latin tenēre.

tenir

1. to possess; to have
2. to hold

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has a stressed present stem tien distinct from the unstressed stem ten, as well as other irregularities. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

• Middle French: tenir
  • French: tenir
    • Saint Dominican Creole French: tini
• Norman: tenir
• Walloon: tni, tini
• → Middle English: teynen, tainen, tenen
• →⇒ English: tennis (see there for further descendants) (via second-person imperative tenez)

• tener

Inherited from Early Medieval Latin tenīre, from Classical Latin tenēre.

tenir

1. to possess; to have
2. to hold

• Occitan: téner, tendre, ténguer, tenir, tiéner

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “tenēre”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 13: T–Ti, page 209