defend
pronunciation
How to pronounce defend in British English:
UK [dɪˈfend]
How to pronounce defend in American English:
US [dɪˈfend]
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- Verb:
- argue or speak in defense of
- be on the defensive; act against an attack
- protect against a challenge or attack
- fight against or resist strongly
- protect or fight for as a champion
- be the defense counsel for someone in a trial
- state or assert
Word Origin
- defend
- defend: [13] Defend comes via Old French defendre from Latin dēfendere ‘ward off’, a compound verb formed from the prefix dē- ‘off, away’ and an element that survives elsewhere only in other compound forms (represented in English by offend). It has been suggested that this is related to Sanskrit han- ‘strike’ and Old English gūth ‘battle’, and that it can be traced ultimately to a prehistoric Indo-European *gwendh-.Defend had not long become established in English when it produced the offspring fend, dispensing with the first syllable. This in turn formed the basis of the derivatives fender [15] and forfend [14]. Fence likewise comes from defence.=> fence, fend
- defend (v.)
- mid-13c., from Old French defendre (12c.) "defend, resist," and directly from Latin defendere "ward off, protect, guard, allege in defense," from de- "from, away" (see de-) + -fendere "to strike, push," from PIE root *gwhen- "to strike, kill" (see bane). In the Mercian hymns, Latin defendet is glossed by Old English gescildeð. Related: Defended; defending.
Example
- 1. He will have to defend his economic stimulus .
- 2. He is also expected to defend his fiscal stimulus strategy .
- 3. Swiss bankers defend strict client confidentiality as a basic principle .
- 4. Other more secular western countries should do more to defend that right .
- 5. This is a difficult time to defend free markets .