intended

intended — noun

1. a person who has formally agreed to marry someone and is considered their future

1.nounB2
Definition

a person who has formally agreed to marry someone and is considered their future husband or wife

Example

Tendai brought his intended to meet his parents at the family dinner.

possessive pronoun + intended

The wedding invitations were addressed to Mrs. Chen and her intended.

Common collocations
  • someone's intended
  • his intended
  • her intended
  • my intended
  • meet the intended
Synonyms
  • fiancé

    more common in modern English; specifies a male partner

  • fiancée

    more common in modern English; specifies a female partner

  • betrothed

    very formal and literary; rarely used in everyday conversation

Grammar Patterns

someone's intended

Usage Note

This noun is formal and somewhat old-fashioned. In modern conversation, 'fiancé' (for a man) or 'fiancée' (for a woman) is more common, though these terms also require the speaker to specify gender.

Common Mistakes

She introduced me to her intended, who was just a friend from work.
She introduced me to her fiancé, who works in the same office.
'Intended' as a noun refers specifically to the person one has agreed to marry, not any romantic partner.
His intendeds were both at the party.
His intended was at the party.
The noun 'intended' is almost never used in the plural, as a person can only have one fiancé/fiancée at a time.

intended — adjective

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words describe something that was set up in advance, but they highlight different aspects. 'Intended' focuses on the purpose or goal someone had in mind ('the intended outcome of the experiment'). 'Planned' emphasizes prior organization and preparation ('a planned schedule of events'). 'Aimed' suggests direction toward a target and is commonly used with 'at' ('training aimed at improving skills'). 'Targeted' specifies a precise group or outcome as the focus ('a targeted advertising campaign'). Use 'intended' when the central idea is someone's original purpose; use 'planned' when the emphasis is on advance preparation; use 'aimed' or 'targeted' when the direction or recipient is the key point. For example: 'The intended audience was teenagers, so they planned a social media campaign aimed at 14-to-17-year-olds.'

intended ↗planned ↗aimedtargeted

Common collocations

Nouns

  • intended outcome
  • intended result
  • intended purpose
  • intended audience
  • intended recipient
  • intended target
  • intended effect
  • intended goal

Adverbs

  • originally intended
  • clearly intended
  • primarily intended
  • specifically intended
  • always intended

Phrases

  • be intended to
  • as intended
  • more than intended
  • less than intended

Prepositions

  • intended for
  • intended as
  • intended to

Etymology

LatinAnglo-FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

The word 'intended' comes from Middle English 'intended,' the past participle of 'intenden' (to intend), which entered English through Anglo-French 'intendre.' The root is Latin 'intendere,' meaning 'to stretch toward' or 'aim at,' formed from 'in-' (toward) and 'tendere' (to stretch). The sense of stretching toward something gave rise to the idea of directing one's attention or purpose. The noun use meaning 'one's betrothed' emerged in the 18th century, capturing the idea of someone toward whom marriage is directed.