defender definition

English defender definition

Alternative forms

• defendor, defendour (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English defender, deffender, defendere, defendour, defendoure, partly from Anglo-Norman defendour, from Old French defendëor; partly from Middle English defenden + -ere, equivalent to defend +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈfɛndə(ɹ)/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛndə(ɹ)

Noun

defender (plural defenders)

1. Someone who defends people or property.
2. (sports) One of the players whose primary task is to prevent the opposition from scoring.
3. A fighter who seeks to repel an attack.

   Synonyms: forefighter, protector

4. (law, rare) A lawyer who represents defendants, especially a public defender; a defense attorney (US) or defence counsel (UK).
   • 1822, Thomas Bayly Howell, A Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings for High Treason and Other Crimes and Misdemeanors from the Earliest Period to the Year 1783, page 729:

     There was another protection to which she was intitled by that law, namely, a defender; but she had none.

   • 2007, Barry Krisberg, Susan Marchionna, Christopher Baird, Continuing the Struggle for Justice, →ISBN, page 248:

     So, what is contemplated under this model is that the defender would work with civil legal services lawyers to address the clients' needs.

   • 2010, Henry L. Hecht, Effective Depositions, →ISBN, page 243:

     It puts you at the head of the table, at a right angle to the witness; the court reporter sits to your right, and the defender sits on the witness's far side.

5. (Scotland, law) A defendant in a civil action.

Derived terms

• ear defender

Translations

Anagrams

• fendered, redefend

Galician defender definition

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese defender, from Latin dēfendere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [defenˈdeɾ]

Verb

defender (first-person singular present defendo, first-person singular preterite defendín, past participle defendido)

1. (transitive) to defend

   Synonyms: amparar, protexer

2. (transitive) to care
3. (takes a reflexive pronoun) to defend oneself
4. (takes a reflexive pronoun) to be able or capable
5. (archaic) to forbid, prohibit, impede
   • 1390, J. L. Pensado Tomé, editor, Os Miragres de Santiago, Madrid: C.S.I.C., page 19:

     Et el vianos asi tristes, defendeonos que o nõ fosemos

     And he, seeing us so sad, forbade us to feel like this

Conjugation

Etymology 2

From de- +‎ fender.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [defenˈdeɾ]

Verb

defender (first-person singular present defendo, first-person singular preterite defendín, past participle defendido)

1. (transitive) to plough

Conjugation

References

• “defender” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
• “defender” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
• “defender” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “defender” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “defender” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Interlingua defender definition

Verb

defender

1. to defend

Conjugation

Ladino defender definition

Etymology

From Latin dēfendō, dēfendere.

Verb

defender (Latin spelling)

1. to prohibit

Portuguese defender definition

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese defender, from Latin dēfendere.

Pronunciation

Verb

defender (first-person singular present defendo, first-person singular preterite defendi, past participle defendido)

1. to defend (repel an attack)

   Synonyms: (archaic) defensar, proteger

2. to defend (represent as a legal professional)
3. (rhetoric) to defend
4. to support (to back a cause, party etc.)

   Synonym: ser a favor de

5. (sports) to defend (to prevent the opponent from scoring)
6. (sports, intransitive) to play in defense
7. (higher education) to formally present a dissertation, thesis or project

Conjugation

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:defender.

Related terms

Spanish defender definition

Etymology

From Latin dēfendere. Cognate with English defend.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /defenˈdeɾ/ [d̪e.fẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: de‧fen‧der

Verb

defender (first-person singular present defiendo, first-person singular preterite defendí, past participle defendido)

1. to defend, to protect, to hold down (contra (“against”), de (“from”))

   Synonym: proteger

2. to stand up for, to stick up for

   ¿Y quién puede defendernos?

   And who can defend us?

3. to uphold

   defender la ley ― to uphold the law

4. to prohibit

   Synonym: prohibir

5. to claim
6. (reflexive) to fight back
7. (reflexive) to defend oneself, to protect oneself
8. (reflexive) to stand up for oneself, to stick up for oneself
9. (takes a reflexive pronoun) to fend off (+ de)
10. (takes a reflexive pronoun) to get by

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• “defender”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014