pend
Latinweigh, pay out, spend, hang
About This Root
The pend family comes from Latin pendere, a verb with two closely related physical ideas: “to hang” and “to weigh.” In the ancient world, weighing often meant suspending something from a balance, so the two meanings naturally lived together. The “hang” side gives us pendulum, pendant, suspend, pending, impending, and depend. A decision that is pending is still hanging; a danger that is impending is hanging over you; something that depends on another thing is metaphorically hanging from it for support. The “weigh/pay” side gives us spend, expense, expend, dispense, and compensation. Money was weighed out, paid out, or balanced against a loss. That is why compensation can feel like restoring balance, and expenditure is what has been paid out. This root is valuable because it shows how a concrete physical action becomes several abstract ideas: reliance, delay, threat, payment, distribution, and balance.
Picture an old balance scale: something hangs from it, is weighed, then paid out. From that one image come depend, suspend, pending, expense, spend, and compensation.
Core Words Deep Dive
The few words from this family worth telling in full — one by one.
dependDepend turns physical hanging into abstract reliance.
Depend turns physical hanging into abstract reliance. If A depends on B, A is hanging from B for support or outcome.
Open dependsuspendSuspend keeps both the literal and figurative picture: something can hang from above, or an activity can be left hanging and therefore paused.
Suspend keeps both the literal and figurative picture: something can hang from above, or an activity can be left hanging and therefore paused.
Open suspendexpenseExpense belongs to the weighing/payment side of pend.
Expense belongs to the weighing/payment side of pend. Value is weighed out and leaves you, so it becomes a cost.
Open expensecompensationCompensation is about restoring balance: something is weighed against a loss, injury, or service and paid back.
Compensation is about restoring balance: something is weighed against a loss, injury, or service and paid back.
Open compensationpendulumPendulum is the root’s physical picture in its purest form: a hanging weight moving back and forth.
Pendulum is the root’s physical picture in its purest form: a hanging weight moving back and forth.
Open pendulumRelated Roots
tain/ten means hold; pend means hang or weigh. Both can suggest support, but depend is “hang from,” while contain is “hold together.”
st is about standing or being fixed; pend often suggests hanging, waiting, or being unsettled.
pens is the weighing/pay-out stem inside words like expense, dispense, and compensation; in this database it is handled as part of pend.
Associated Words · 32
spend
to pay out money; to pass or use up time
depend
to rely on; to be determined by
expensive
Costing a lot of money; high in price
expense
The cost or money spent on something
dependent
Relying on another for support; a person financially supported by another
suspend
To temporarily stop something; to hang from above
pension
A regular payment to a retired person; to grant such a payment
compensation
Money or something given to make up for loss or service
suspension
A temporary halt or removal; particles dispersed in a fluid
compensate
To pay or reward someone; to make up for something negative
expenditure
The act of spending money; the total amount spent
pending
Awaiting a decision; while waiting for something
dispense
To distribute or give out; to prepare and supply medicine
expend
To use up or consume a resource
propensity
A natural tendency or inclination toward something
suspense
Excitement or anxiety about an uncertain outcome
interdependence
The state of depending on each other mutually
appendix
Supplementary material at the end of a book; the vermiform appendix in the body
pendulum
A swinging weight used to regulate clocks; something that swings between extremes
pendant
A hanging ornament worn on a necklace
perpendicular
At a right angle to something; a line forming a right angle
compensatory
Intended to make up for loss or injury
compendium
A concise but comprehensive summary or collection
pensive
Deeply and sadly thoughtful; absorbed in serious reflection