Online Etymology Dictionary

tender (adj.): "soft, easily injured," early 13c., from O.Fr. tendre "soft, delicate, tender" (11c.), from L. tenerem (nom. tener) "soft, delicate, of tender age," from PIE *ten- "stretch" (see tenet). Meaning "kind, affectionate, loving" first recorded c.1300. Meaning "having the delicacy of youth, immature" is attested from early 14c. Tender-hearted first recorded 1530s. The verb tenderize is attested from 1733; specifically of food, recorded by 1935, originally Amer.Eng.; tenderizer is recorded from 1958.
tenderloin: 1828, "tender part of a loin of pork or beef," from tender + loin. The slang meaning "police district noted for vice" appeared first 1887 in New York, on the notion of the neighborhood of the chief theaters, restaurants, etc., being the "juciest cut" for graft and blackmail.
tender (n.): "person who tends another," c.1470, probably an agent noun formed from M.E. tenden "attend to" (see tend (2)); later extended to locomotive engineers (1825) and barmen (1883). The meaning "small boat used to attend larger ones" first recorded 1675.
tenderfoot: 1881, Amer.Eng., originally of newcomers to ranching or mining districts, from tender (adj.) + foot. The U.S. equivalent of what in Great Britain was generally called a greenhand. As a level in Boy Scouting, it is recorded from 1908.
tender (v.): "to offer formally," 1542, from M.Fr. tendre "to offer, hold forth" (11c.), from L. tendere "to stretch, extend" (see tenet). The retention of the ending of the M.Fr. infinitive is unusual. The noun meaning "formal offer" is from 1542; specific sense of "money that may be legally offered as payment" is from 1740.
tendril: 1538, from M.Fr. tendrillon "bud, shoot, cartilage," perhaps a dim. of tendron "cartilage," from O.Fr. tendre "soft" (see tender (adj.)), or else from L. tendere "to stretch, extend" (see tender (v.)).
feelings: "tender or sensitive side of one's nature," 1771, from plural of feeling.
delicacy: late 14c., "quaity of being addicted to sensuous pleasure," from delicate. Meaning "fineness, softness, tender loveliness" is from 1580s; that of "weakness of constitution" is from 1630s. Meaning "a dainty viand" is from mid-15c.
tidbit: c.1640, probably from dialectal tid "fond, solicitous, tender" + bit "morsel."
unfeeling: late O.E., "having no sensation," from un- (1) "not" + feeling (see feel). Meaning "devoid of kindly or tender feelings" is recorded from 1596.
fireman: late 14c., “tender of a fire,” from fire + man. As "person hired to put out (rather than tend) fires" is from 1714.
nesh: "tender, delicate, weak," now only a Northern England dialect word, from O.E. hnesce "soft in texture" (cognate with early modern Du. nesch, Goth. hnasqus), of unknown origin.
bartender: also bar-tender; 1836, Amer.Eng., from bar (2) + agent noun of tend (2).
minion: 1501, "a favorite; a darling; a low dependant; one who pleases rather than benefits" [Johnson], from M.Fr. mignon "a favorite, darling" (n.), also "dainty, pleasing, favorite" (adj.), from O.Fr. mignot, perhaps of Celt. origin (cf. O.Ir. min "tender, soft"), or from O.H.G. minnja, minna "love, memory." Used without disparaging overtones 16c.-17c.
lush (adj.): 1440, "lax, flaccid, soft, tender," from O.Fr. lasche "soft, succulent," from laschier "loosen," from L.L. laxicare "become shaky," related to L. laxare "loosen," from laxus "loose" (see lax). Sense of "luxuriant in growth" is first attested 1610; erroneously applied to colors since 1744.
mellow: mid-15c., melwe "soft, sweet, juicy" (of ripe fruit), perhaps related to melowe, variant of mele "ground grain" (see meal (2)), influenced by M.E. merow "soft, tender," from O.E. mearu. Meaning "slightly drunk" is from 1680s. The verb is from 1570s. Related: Mellowed; mellowing. Mellow yellow "banana peel smoked to get high" is from 1967.
gentle: early 13c., from O.Fr. gentil "high-born, noble," from L. gentilis "of the same family or clan," from gens (gen. gentis) "race, clan," from root of gignere "beget" (see kin), from PIE base *gen- "produce." Sense of "gracious, kind" (now obsolete) first recorded late 13c.; that of "mild, tender" is 1550s. Older sense remains in gentleman "well-born man" (late 13c.). Gentleman's agreement is first attested 1929.
fond: mid-14c., originally "foolish, silly," from past tense of fonnen "to fool, be foolish," perhaps from M.E. fonne "fool," of uncertain origin, or related to fun. Meaning evolved by 1590 via "foolishly tender" to "having strong affections for." Another sense of fonne was "to lose savor," which may be the original meaning of the word (e.g. Wyclif: "Gif þe salt be fonnyd it is not worþi," 1380). Related: Fonder; fondest; fondness.
legal: mid-15c. "of or pertaining to the law," from L. legalis "legal, pertaining to the law," from lex (gen. legis) "law," possibly related to legere "to gather," on notion of "a collection of rules" (see lecture). Sense of "permitted by law" is from 1640s. The O.Fr. form was leial, loial (see leal, loyal). Related: Legality. Legal tender is from 1740.
mild: O.E. milde "gentle, merciful," from P.Gmc. *milthjaz- (cf. O.N. mildr, O.Fris. milde, Du. mild, O.H.G. milti, Ger. milde "mild," Goth. mildiþa "kindness"), from PIE base *meld-/*mld- "softness" (cf. Gk. malthon "weakling," O.Ir. meldach "tender," Skt. mrdh "to neglect," also "to be moist"). Related to melt. Originally of persons and powers; of the weather from c.1400, of disease from 1744. Phrase to put it mildly is attested from 1929.
marshal: early 13c., from O.Fr. mareschal, originally "stable officer, horse tender, groom" (Frankish L. mariscaluis) from Frank. *marhskalk, lit. "horse-servant" (cf. O.H.G. marahscalc "groom"), from P.Gmc. *markhaz "horse" (see mare (1)) + *skalkaz "servant" (cf. Du. schalk "rogue, wag," Goth. skalks "servant"). Cognate with O.E. horsþegn. For development history, cf. constable. The verb "to arrange for fighting" is from 1580s. Related: Marshaled.
brawn: late 13c., from O.Fr. braon "fleshy or muscular part, buttock," from Frank. *brado "ham, roast," from P.Gmc. *bred-on- (cf. O.H.G. brato "tender meat," Ger. Braten "roast," O.N. brað "raw meat," O.E. bræd "flesh"), from PIE *bhre- "burn, heat," from base *bhreue- "to boil, bubble, effervesce, burn" (see brew). The original sense is "piece of meat suitable for roasting." "The specific sense 'boar's flesh' is exclusively of English development, and characteristic of English habits" [OED].
weak: c.1300, from O.N. veikr "weak," cognate with O.E. wac "weak, pliant, soft," from P.Gmc. *waikwaz "yield," *wikanan "bend" (cf. O.S. wek, Swed. vek, M.Du. weec, Du. week "weak, soft, tender," O.H.G. weih "yielding, soft," Ger. weich "soft," from PIE base *weik- "to bend, wind" (see vicarious). Sense of "lacking authority" is first recorded early 15c.; that of "lacking moral strength" late 14c. Weaken (v.) is recorded from 1520s; the earlier verb was simply weak (late 14c.). Weak-kneed "wanting in resolve" is from 1870.
raw: O.E. hreaw "uncooked, raw," from P.Gmc. *khrawaz (cf. O.N. hrar, M.Du. rau, O.H.G. hrawer, Ger. roh), from PIE base *krowos "congealed, bloody" (cf. Skt. kravih "raw flesh," krura- "bloody, raw, hard;" Gk. kreas "flesh;" L. crudus "not cooked," cruor "thick blood;" O.Ir. cru, Lith. kraujas, O.C.S. kruvi "blood;" O.E. hrot "thick fluid, serum"). Meaning "tender, sore" is from c.1390; of persons, "inexperienced" from 1561; "damp and chilly" first recorded 1546. Rawhide is first attested 1658; raw material is from 1796. Phrase in the raw "naked" (1933) is from the raw "exposed flesh," attested from 1823. Raw deal "harsh treatment" first attested 1912.
green: O.E. grene, earlier groeni, related to O.E. growan "to grow," from W.Gmc. *gronja- (cf. O.Fris. grene, O.N. grænn, Dan. grøn, Du. groen, Ger. grün), from PIE base *gro- "grow," through sense of "color of living plants." The color of jealousy at least since Shakespeare (1596); "Greensleeves," ballad of an inconstant lady-love, is from 1580. Meaning of "a field, grassy place" was in O.E. Sense of "of tender age, youthful" is from 1412; hence "gullible" (1605). Greenhorn (containing the sense of "new, fresh, recent") was first "young horned animal" (1455), then "recently enlisted soldier" (1650), then "any inexperienced person" (1682). Green light in figurative sense of "permission" is from 1937. Green and red as signals on railways first attested 1883, as nighttime substitutes for semaphore flags. Green beret originally "British commando" is from 1949. Green room "room for actors when not on stage" is from 1701; presumably a well-known one was painted green.
bowel: c.1300, from O.Fr. boele "intestines, bowels, innards" (12c., Mod.Fr. boyau), from M.L. botellus "small intestine," originally "sausage," dim. of botulus "sausage," a word borrowed from Oscan-Umbrian, from PIE *gwet-/*geut- "intestine" (cf. L. guttur "throat," O.E. cwið, Goth. qiþus "belly, womb," Ger. kutteln "guts, chitterlings"). Greek splankhnon (from the same PIE base as spleen) was a word for the principal internal organs, which also were felt in ancient times to be the seat of various emotions. Greek poets, from Aeschylus down, regarded the bowels as the seat of the more violent passions such as anger and love, but by the Hebrews they were seen as the seat of tender affections, especially kindness, benevolence, and compassion. Splankhnon was used in Septuagint to translate a Hebrew word, and from thence early Bibles in English rendered it in its literal sense as bowels, which thus acquired in English a secondary meaning of "pity, compassion" (late 14c.). But in later editions the word often was translated as heart. Bowel movement is attested by 1874.