# defensa
## Catalan
### Etymology 1

Borrowed from Late Latin dēfēnsa.

#### Noun

defensa f (plural defenses)
* defense

### Etymology 2
#### Verb

defensa
* inflection of defensar:
** third-person singular present indicative
** second-person singular imperative

### Further reading

* “defensa” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “defensa”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “defensa” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “defensa” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Latin
### Etymology

Nominalization of the feminine form of the perfect passive participle of dēfendō.

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /deːˈfen.sa/, [d̪eːˈfẽːs̠ä]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /deˈfen.sa/, [d̪eˈfɛnsä]

### Noun

dēfēnsa f (genitive dēfēnsae); first declension (Late Latin)
* (Late Latin) defense, protection
    Synonyms: dēfēnsiō, prōtēctiō, tūtēla, vindicātiō

#### Declension

First-declension noun.

#### Descendants

* → Catalan: defensa
* → French: défense
** → Swedish: défense
** → Turkish: defans
** → English: defense, defence
* Galician: devesa
* → Galician: defensa
* Italian: difesa
* → Norman: d'fense (Jersey)
* → Occitan: defensa
* Portuguese: defesa, devesa
* Spanish: dehesa
* Sicilian: difisa
* → Spanish: defensa

### Participle

dēfēnsa
* inflection of dēfēnsus:
** nominative/vocative feminine singular
** nominative/accusative/vocative neuter plural

### Participle

dēfēnsā
* ablative feminine singular of dēfēnsus

### References

* “defensa”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* defensa in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
* defensa in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

## Occitan
### Etymology

From Late Latin dēfēnsa.

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

defensa f (plural defensas)
* defense

## Portuguese
### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /deˈfẽ.sɐ/
* (Brazil) IPA: /deˈfẽ.sɐ/
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /deˈfẽ.sa/
* (Portugal) IPA: /dɨˈfẽ.sɐ/
* Hyphenation: de‧fen‧sa

### Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin dēfēnsa. Doublet of defesa and devesa.

#### Noun

defensa f (plural defensas)
* (archaic) Alternative form of defesa

### Etymology 2
#### Verb

defensa
* inflection of defensar:
** third-person singular present indicative
** second-person singular imperative

## Spanish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /deˈfensa/ [d̪eˈfẽn.sa]
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ensa
* Syllabification: de‧fen‧sa

### Etymology 1

Borrowed from Late Latin dēfēnsa (“bounded, defended”), from Latin dēfēnsus. Doublet of dehesa, which was inherited. Cognate with English defense.

#### Noun

defensa f (plural defensas)
* defense
** 1888, Eduardo Acevedo Díaz, Ismael‎, Buenos Aires: La Tribuna Nacional:Por eso, los nuevos compañeros de Ismael se mantuvieron silenciosos y prudentes, cuando él estalló en cólera en defensa de una culebra. ¿Qué no haría en defensa del pago, y de su vida misma?(please add an English translation of this quotation)
* retaining wall
* (automotive) bumper
    Synonym: parachoques

##### Derived terms

* autodefensa, defensa personal
* legítima defensa
* mecanismo de defensa

#### Noun

defensa m (plural defensas)
* (sports) back

##### Related terms

* defender
* defensivo

### Etymology 2
#### Verb

defensa
* inflection of defensar:
** third-person singular present indicative
** second-person singular imperative

### Further reading

* “defensa”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10