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defender
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English
Alternative forms
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
Noun
defender (plural defenders)
- Someone who defends people or property.
- (sports) One of the players whose primary task is to prevent the opposition from scoring.
- A fighter who seeks to repel an attack.
- Synonyms: forefighter, protector
- (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.
- (Scots law) A defendant in a civil action.
Derived terms
Translations
someone who defends
|
a fighter
|
sports term
|
public defender — see public defender
Anagrams
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Galician
Etymology 1
From Old Galician-Portuguese defender, from Latin dēfendere.
Pronunciation
Verb
defender (first-person singular present defendo, first-person singular preterite defendín, past participle defendido)
- (transitive) to defend
- (transitive) to care
- (pronominal) to defend oneself
- 1934, Castelao, Os dous de sempre, page 127:
- […] os empregados non se deixan asoballar pola súa maldade, e o mesmo porteiro deprendeu a poñerlle cara de can. Somente Pedro é un manteiguiñas, incapaz de defenderse. A covardía do xefe cabalga na covardía de Pedro, para locí-las arroutadas que non é quen de descargar no lombo dos outros. Pedro sofre en silenzo; pero cóme-no as xenreiras, e non pode ollá-la cara daquel home sen desexarlle a morte.
- […] employees don't allow him to humiliate them with his meanness, and even the doorman learnt to put an angry face for him. But Pedro is a poor thing, unable to defend himself. The boss' cowardice rides Pedro's, to show off the outbursts that he is incapable of discharging over other's shoulders. Pedro suffers in silence; but spite eats him, and he can't watch that man's face without wishing him death.
- (pronominal) to be able or capable
- (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
1Less recommended.
Related terms
Etymology 2
Pronunciation
Verb
defender (first-person singular present defendo, first-person singular preterite defendín, past participle defendido)
- (transitive) to plough
Conjugation
1Less recommended.
References
- Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022), “defender”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
- Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018), “defender”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
- Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “defender”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
- Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “defender”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
- Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “defender”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN
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Interlingua
Verb
defender
- to defend
Conjugation
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Ladino
Etymology
From Latin dēfendō, dēfendere.
Verb
defender
- to prohibit
Portuguese
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)
- to defend (repel an attack)
- to defend (represent as a legal professional)
- (rhetoric) to defend
- to support (to back a cause, party etc.)
- (sports) to defend (to prevent the opponent from scoring)
- (sports, intransitive) to play in defense
- (higher education) to formally present a dissertation, thesis or project
Conjugation
Quotations
For quotations using this term, see Citations:defender.
Related terms
- defendedor
- defendente
- defendido
- defendimento
- defendível
- defensão
- defensar
- defensável
- defensiva
- defensível
- defensivo
- defensor
- defensoria
- defensório
- defesa
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Spanish
Etymology
Pronunciation
Verb
defender (first-person singular present defiendo, first-person singular preterite defendí, past participle defendido)
- to defend, to protect, to hold down (contra (“against”), de (“from”))
- Synonym: proteger
- to stand up for, to stick up for
- ¿Y quién puede defendernos?
- And who can defend us?
- to uphold
- defender la ley ― to uphold the law
- to prohibit
- Synonym: prohibir
- to claim
- (reflexive) to fight back
- (reflexive) to defend oneself, to protect oneself
- (reflexive) to stand up for oneself, to stick up for oneself
- (pronominal) to fend off (+ de)
- (pronominal) to get by
- Me defiendo hablando inglés.
- I can get by in English.
Conjugation
These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- “defender”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
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