defender

== English == === 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)/ Rhymes: -ɛndə(ɹ) === 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). (Scots law) A defendant in a civil action. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Anagrams === fendered, redefend == Galician == === 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) (transitive) to defend Synonyms: amparar, protexer (transitive) to care (pronominal) to defend oneself (pronominal) to be able or capable (archaic) to forbid, prohibit, impede ===== Conjugation ===== ===== Related terms ===== === Etymology 2 === From de- +‎ fender. ==== Pronunciation ==== IPA(key): [defenˈdeɾ] ==== Verb ==== defender (first-person singular present defendo, first-person singular preterite defendín, past participle defendido) (transitive) to plough ===== Conjugation ===== === References === Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “defender”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “defender”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (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 == Interlingua == === Verb === defender to defend ==== Conjugation ==== == 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) Synonyms: (archaic) defensar, proteger to defend (represent as a legal professional) (rhetoric) to defend to support (to back a cause, party etc.) Synonym: ser a favor de (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 ==== === Further reading === “defender”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026 “defender”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026 == Spanish == === Etymology === Inherited from Old Spanish defender, a semi-learned borrowing 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) to defend, to protect, to hold down Synonym: proteger to stand up for, to stick up for 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 Synonym: volver por sí (reflexive) to stand up for oneself, to stick up for oneself (pronominal) to fend off [with de] (pronominal) to get by ==== Conjugation ==== ==== Synonyms ==== ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== === Further reading === “defender”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025