# 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: /dɪˈfɛndə(ɹ)/
* Audio (US):(file)
* 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).
** 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

* defenderless
* defendership
* defendress
* ear defender

#### Translations
### Anagrams

* fendered, redefend

## Galician
### Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese defender, from Latin dēfendere.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [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
** 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 fosemosAnd he, seeing us so sad, forbade us to feel like this

##### Conjugation

$^1$Less recommended.

##### Related terms

* defensa
* defensivo
* defensor

### Etymology 2

From de- +‎ fender.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [defenˈdeɾ]

#### Verb

defender (first-person singular present defendo, first-person singular preterite defendín, past participle defendido)
* (transitive) to plough

##### Conjugation

$^1$Less 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

## Interlingua
### Verb

defender
* to defend

#### Conjugation

| infinitive | infinitive | defender | defender |
| participle | participle | present | perfect |
| participle | participle | defendente | defendite |
| active | | simple | perfect |
| active | present | defende | ha defendite |
| active | past | defendeva | habeva defendite |
| active | future | defendera | habera defendite |
| active | conditional | defenderea | haberea defendite |
| active | imperative | defende | |
| passive | | simple | perfect |
| passive | present | es defendite | ha essite defendite |
| passive | past | esseva defendite | habeva essite defendite |
| passive | future | essera defendite | habera essite defendite |
| passive | conditional | esserea defendite | haberea essite defendite |
| passive | imperative | sia defendite | |

## Ladino
### Etymology

From Latin dēfendō, dēfendere.

### Verb

defender (Latin spelling)
* to prohibit

## Portuguese
### Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese defender, from Latin dēfendere.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /de.fẽˈde(ʁ)/ [de.fẽˈde(h)]
* (Brazil) IPA: /de.fẽˈde(ʁ)/ [de.fẽˈde(h)]
** (São Paulo) IPA: /de.fẽˈde(ɾ)/
** (Rio de Janeiro) IPA: /de.fẽˈde(ʁ)/ [de.fẽˈde(χ)]
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /de.fẽˈde(ɻ)/
* (Portugal) IPA: /dɨ.fẽˈdeɾ/
* (Portugal) IPA: /dɨ.fẽˈdeɾ/
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /dɨ.fẽˈde.ɾi/

### 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

#### 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

## Spanish
### Etymology

From Latin dēfendere. Cognate with English defend.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /defenˈdeɾ/ [d̪e.fẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]
* Audio (Peru):(file)
* 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 (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

$^1$Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language. $^2$Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.
These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

#### Derived terms

* autodefenderse

#### Related terms

* defensa
* defensiva
* defensivo
* defensor, defensora

### 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], 2024 December 10