defend

/di-ˈfend/

Middle English defenden, borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French defendre, defender, going back to Latin dēfendere "to ward off, fend off, repel danger from, protect," from dē- de--fendere, presumably, "to strike, hit" (unattested without prefixes), going back to Indo-European *g{sup}wh{/sup}en-d{sup}h{/sup}-, extended determinate form of *g{sup}wh{/sup}en-, *g{sup}wh{/sup}n- "strike, kill," whence Hittite kuenzi "(s/he) kills," kunanzi "(they) kill," Sanskrit hánti "(s/he) strikes, kills," ghnánti "(they) strike, kill," Greek theínein "to strike," épethnon "(I) killed," Old Irish gonaid "(s/he) pierces, wounds, kills," Welsh gwan- "stab, pierce," Lithuanian genù, giñti "to drive (cattle, etc.)," Old Church Slavic ženǫ, gŭnati "to drive, chase out, expel"; also, from nominal derivative *g{sup}wh{/sup}on-, Greek phónos "bloodshed, murder," and from *g{sup}wh{/sup}ń̥-tih, Germanic *gunþī, *gunþjō, whence Old English gūþ "battle, combat," Old Saxon gūđea, Old High German gund-, Old Icelandic gunnr, guðr

verb

  1. to drive danger or attack away from

  2. to maintain or support in the face of argument or hostile criticism

  3. to prove (something, such as a doctoral thesis or dissertation) valid by answering questions in an oral exam

defend the castle from invaders

defend protect shield guard safeguard mean to keep secure from danger or against attack. defend denotes warding off actual or threatened attack. protect implies the use of something (such as a covering) as a bar to the admission or impact of what may attack or injure.