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Origin and history of defender

defender(n.)

c. 1300, defendour, "one who protects from injury a champion" (early 13c. as a surname), via Anglo-French from Old French defendeor, agent noun from defendre (see defend). The Latin word in this sense was defensor.

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to defender

defend(v.)

mid-13c., defenden, "to shield from attack, guard against assault or injury," from Old French defendre (12c.) "defend, resist," and directly from Latin defendere "ward off, protect, guard, allege in defense," from de "from, away" (see de-) + -fendere "to strike, hit, push," attested only in compounds (such as offendere "to strike against; encounter;" infensus "aggressive, hostile"), from PIE root *gwhend- "to strike, kill" (source also of Hittite kue(n)zi "to kill," Sanskrit ghnanti "to kill; Greek theino "to slay, to kill;" Armenian jnem "to strike;" Lithuanian ginti "to protect, defend;" Old Irish gonaid "wounds, kills;" Welsh gwan "to thrust, hit;" Old Breton goanaff "to punish, sting").

It is attested from c. 1300 as "fight in defense of" (someone or something). From mid-14c. as "defend with words, speak in support of, vindicate, uphold, maintain." In Middle English it also could mean "forbid, prohibit; restrain, prevent." In the Mercian hymns, Latin defendet is glossed by Old English gescildeð. Related: Defended; defending.

fender(n.)

late 13c., shortening of defender. Originally something hung over the side to protect the hull of a ship at a wharf, pier, etc. Of fireplaces since 1680s; of automobiles from 1919. Fender-bender "minor automobile accident" is from 1958.

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    More to explore

    protector
    late 14c., protectour, "a defender, guardian, one who defends or shields from injury or evil," from Old French protector (14c., Modern French protecteur) and directly from Late Latin protector, agent noun from protegere (see protection). Related: Protectoral; protectorial; protec
    warrant
    c. 1200, "protector, defender," from Old North French warant "defender; surety, pledge; justifying evidence" (Old French...
    guarantee
    ending -ee), from earlier garrant "warrant that the title to a property is true" (early 15c.), from Old French garant "defender...
    conservator
    interests or rights of someone else or some thing," from Anglo-French conservatour, from Latin conservator "keeper, preserver, defender...
    salvation
    Also from late 14c. as "source, cause, or means of salvation; a preserver, defender."...
    conservatory
    "having the quality of preserving," from Latin conservator "keeper, preserver, defender," agent noun from conservare....
    shield
    , etc., carried by an warrior on the arm or in the hand as defense," from Old English scield, scild "shield; protector, defender...
    fire-eater
    1670s, "juggler who appears to swallow fire as part of an act," from fire (n.) + eater. From 1804 as "person of irascible or recklessly defiant disposition;" especially in U.S. history in reference to vehement Southern partizans (1851). Perhaps due to the extended senses, fire-sw
    corset
    late 14c. (mid-13c. in Anglo-Latin), "a kind of laced bodice, close-fitting body garment," from Old French corset (13c.) "bodice, tunic," diminutive of cors "body," from Latin corpus "body" (from PIE root *kwrep- "body, form, appearance"). Meaning "stiff supporting and constricti
    sector
    1560s, in geometry, "a section of a circle between two radii," from Late Latin sector "section of a circle," in classical Latin "a cutter, one who cuts," from sectus, past participle of secare "to cut" (from PIE root *sek- "to cut"). Sector translated Greek tomeus in Latin editio

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