From Middle English defenden, from Old French defendre, deffendre (Modern French défendre), from Latin dēfendō, from itc-pro *fendō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen-.

• (British) IPA: /dɪˈfɛnd/
• (America) IPA: /dɪˈfɛnd/, /diˈfɛnd/, /dəˈfɛnd/

defend (defends, present participle defending; simple past and past participle defended)

1. (transitive) To ward off attacks against; to fight to protect; to guard.
2. (transitive) To support by words or writing; to vindicate, talk in favour of.
3. (transitive, legal) To make legal defence of; to represent (the accused).
4. (sports) To focus one's energies and talents on preventing opponents from scoring, as opposed to focusing on scoring.
5. (sports) To attempt to retain a title, or attempt to reach the same stage in a competition as one did in the previous instance of that competition.
6. (poker slang) To call a raise from the big blind.
7. (transitive, obsolete) To ward off, repel (an attack or attacker).
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC ↗:

     The vertue is, that neither steele, nor stone / The stroke thereof from entrance may defend […].

8. (transitive, obsolete) To prevent, to keep (from doing something).
9. (transitive, intransitive, obsolete) To prohibit, forbid.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “[https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/MaloryWks2/1:20.2?rgn=div2;view=fulltext ij]”, in Le Morte Darthur, book XVIII:

     Broder said sir launcelot wete ye wel I am ful lothe to departe oute of this realme / but the quene hath defended me soo hyhely / that me semeth she wille neuer be my good lady as she hath ben

     “Brother”, said Sir Launcelot, “you know full well that I would be very reluctant to leave this kingdom, were it not that the queen had forbidden me so strongly to remain here, that it seems to me that she will never again be my lover as once she was”

• See also Thesaurus:defend

• attack

• defense
• defence
• defensive
• fend

• fender
• fend off
• forfend

• French: défendre
• German: verteidigen
• Italian: difendere, proteggere
• Portuguese: defender, proteger
• Russian: защища́ть
• Spanish: defender