Karl Weierstrass's(look him up, and you'll know that he is the father of definition of limit) definition particularly uses the word tends

His short definition: We say f(x) TENDS to the limit L as x TENDS to c for lim(x->c) f(x)=L


and like I said, certain symbols in mathematics are meant to be used for certain things. Imagine using a tow for summation, an epsilon for denoting pi etc.