fend

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɛnd/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnd

Etymology 1

From Middle English fenden (“defend, fight, prevent”), shortening of defenden (“defend”), from Old French deffendre (Modern French défendre), from Latin dēfendō (“to ward off”), from dē- +‎ *fendō (“hit, thrust”), from Proto-Italic *fendō, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- (“strike, kill”).

Verb

fend (third-person singular simple present fends, present participle fending, simple past and past participle fended)

1. (intransitive) To take care of oneself; to take responsibility for one's own well-being.
   • 1990, Messrs Howley and Murphy, quoted in U.S. House Subcommittee on Labor Standards, Oversight hearing on the Federal Service Contract Act, U.S. Government Printing Office, page 40,

     Mr. Howley. They are telling him how much they will increase the reimbursement for the total labor cost. The contractor is left to fend as he can.

     Chairman Murphy. Obviously, he can’t fend for any more than the money he has coming in.

   • 2003, Scott Turow, Reversible Errors, page 376:

     The planet was full of creatures in need, who could not really fend, and the law was at its best when it ensured that they were treated with dignity.

2. (rare, except as "fend for oneself") To defend, to take care of (typically construed with for); to block or push away (typically construed with off).
   • 1697, Virgil, “The Third Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     With fern beneath to fend the bitter cold.

   • 1999, Luo Guanzhong, translated by Moss Roberts, Three Kingdoms: A Historical Novel, page 39:

     He fends, he blocks, too skillful to be downed.

   • 2002, Jude Deveraux, A Knight in Shining Armor, page 187:

     “ […] My age is lot like yours. Lone women do not fare well. If I were not there to fend for you, you—”

Derived terms

• fend and prove
• fend away
• fender
• fend for oneself
• fend off
• forfend

Translations

to take care of or responsibility for oneself

Bulgarian: грижа се (griža se) Dutch: zijn eigen boontjes doppen Estonian: tõrjuma Finnish: huolehtia itsestään, pitää huolta itsestään, selviytyä (fi), pärjätä (fi) French: prendre soin de soi German: alleine auskommen, für sich selbst sorgen Spanish: valerse por sí mismo

to defend, block or push away

Bulgarian: отклонявам (bg) (otklonjavam), парирам (bg) (pariram) Chinese: Mandarin: 挡住 (zh) (dǎngzhù) Finnish: torjua (fi), pitää puolta Maori: pārai, whakangungu, matatā

Noun

fend (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) Self-support; taking care of one's own well-being.

Etymology 2

From Middle English fēnd, feond, from Old English fēond (“adversary, foe, enemy, fiend, devil, Satan”), from Proto-Germanic *fijandz, present participle of *fijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hate”). More at fiend.

Noun

fend (plural fends)

1. (UK dialectal) An enemy; fiend; the Devil.

Anagrams

• Fed'n, def'n, defn