tend-, tendo-, ten-, teno-, tenot-, tenonto-, tens-, tent-, -tend, -tension, -tent, -tense, -tensive, -tentious

The tendon that connects the heelbone to the calf muscles.

Surgical division of the Achilles tendon or one of the longest tendons in the body, (formally called the tendo achilles or the tendo calcaneus) is a tough sinew that attaches the calf muscle to the back of the heel bone (the calcaneus).

According to Greek mythology, achilles's mother held him as a baby by the heel and dipped him in the river styx to make him invulnerable but the heel by which she held him remained unimmersed and hence vulnerable, as Paris' arrow in Achilles' heel later proved.

See Achilles' Heel, the Myth for more details.

1. To take care or charge of; to look after (to stretch one’s mind to).
2. To wait on; minister to; to serve; such as, to serve as a doctor during an illness.
3. To accompany; to go with.
4. Etymology: "to direct one's mind or energies"; from Old French atendre, "to expect, to wait for, to pay attention"; from Latin attendere, "to give heed to"; literally, "to stretch toward"; from ad-, "to" + tendere, "to stretch".

1. The act of attending.
2. The people or number of people attending.
3. The frequency with which a person is present.

1. Being present.
2. A person who attends to or serves.
3. A person who attends an activity, etc.

1. Escorts, followers, companions, servants, or associates: "The queen was always surrounded by her attendants."
2. Accompanying, associated, related: "We always dread winter and its attendant hardships."

1. The act of keeping one’s mind closely on something or the ability to do this; mental concentration; mental readiness for such concentration.
2. To give care or consideration.

1. Paying attention; observant; listening or watching carefully and with concentration.
2. Considerate, courteous, devoted, behaving toward someone in a way that shows special regard or affection, etc.

With attention; in an attentive manner.

To give attention to what someone is saying.

An agent that dilutes or weakens the virulence of a pathogenic organism or the effects of a drug.

1. To reduce the size, strength, or density of something, or to become thinner, weaker, or less dense.
2. To weaken or to reduce in force, the intensity, effect, quantity, or value of something; for example, to attenuate a desire.
3. To reduce the virulence of a bacterium or virus; for example, by exposing it to heat or producing a culture of it in a special medium.

Attenuated bacteria or viruses are used in some vaccines.

4. Etymology: "to make thin, to make less" from Latin attenuatus, past participle of attenuare, "to make thin"; from ad-, "to" + tenuare, "to make thin"; from tenuis, "thin".

1. That which was made slender, fine, or small: "The drought attenuated the river to a narrow channel."
2. Reduced in force, value, amount, or degree; weakened: "Medicine attenuated the fever's effect."
3. Rarefied or lessened by the density of.
4. In biology, bacteria or viruses) less virulent.
5. In medicine, A reference to the dilution of a solution or the reduction in virulence or toxicity of a microorganism or a drug by weakening it.
6. In electronics, to reduce the amplitude of an electrical signal with little or no distortion.

1. A reference to procedures that weaken an agent of disease (a pathogen).

An attenuated virus is a weakened, less vigorous virus. A vaccine against a viral disease can be made from an attenuation, a less virulent strain of the virus, a virus capable of stimulating an immune response and creating immunity but not causing illness.
2. In physics, a reduction in amplitude, density, or energy resulting from friction, absorption, or scattering.
3. A loss of solar irradiance as it passes through the atmosphere to the surface of the earth.
4. A reduction in the toxicity of a pollutant substance in the environment; especially, as a result of natural processes.

Bacteria and viruses are made less virulent by being heated, dried, treated with chemicals, passed through another organism, or cultured under unfavorable conditions.

Attenuated bacteria are often used as vaccine agents.

5. The process of reduction; such as, the attenuation of an x-ray beam by reducing its intensity.
6. The reduction of amplitude, magnitude, or strength of an electrical signal.

In electronics, it is the opposite of amplification.