Etymology: Probably < Anglo-Norman defens, deffens, diffence, Anglo-Norman and Middle French defence, deffence, defense, deffense (feminine, in Anglo-Norman also masculine; French défense ) prohibition (first half of the 12th cent. in Old French), person who or thing which defends against attack, harm, or injury (first half of the 12th cent. with reference to God as protector, late 12th cent. with reference to defensive works, 14th cent. or earlier with reference to weapons), (in legal use) denial of guilt or liability by the accused party (mid 12th cent.), action of defending oneself from or resisting an attack, injury, or harm (late 12th cent.), argument or pleading used to defend one's cause (1249), (in chess) move or series of moves played with the objective of countering an opponent's attack (13th cent. or earlier), action of defending or justifying a cause (14th cent. or earlier), defensive force (end of the 14th cent.), in Anglo-Norman also offence, misdemeanour (13th cent. or earlier) < post-classical Latin defensa vengeance (Vetus Latina; early 3rd cent. in Tertullian), action of defending (from 14th cent. in British sources), use as noun of classical Latin dēfensa , feminine past participle of dēfendere defend v.Romance parallels. Compare Old Occitan defensa (late 13th cent.), Catalan defensa (mid 14th cent. as †deffensa ), Spanish defensa (beginning of the 14th cent.), Portuguese defensa (14th cent.). Compare also (with popular phonological development) Old Occitan defessa defence (early 13th cent.), Catalan devesa enclosed pasture (10th cent.), Spanish dehesa meadow (late 12th cent. as †defesa ), Portuguese defesa (1141 in sense ‘meadow’, early 14th cent. in sense ‘defence’), Italian difesa defence (late 13th cent.); the senses ‘meadow’ and ‘enclosed pasture’ reflect an early specific semantic development common to several Romance languages of the Iberian peninsula (compare post-classical Latin defesa , defensa meadow (frequently from 9th cent. in Spanish sources)). Specific forms. With English forms without final e , perhaps compare Old French desfans , Middle French defens , deffens (masculine) prohibition (second half of the 12th cent.; French (now rare) défends , défens now only in the specific sense ‘prohibition of cutting wood in a forest, of entry into an enclosure, or of pasturing animals in it’) < post-classical Latin defensum action of defending, protection (in an undated glossary; 4th cent. in a grammarian), prohibition (13th cent. in British sources), use as noun of classical Latin dēfensum , neuter past participle of dēfendere defend v. Specific senses. In the specific use in the game of ombre (see sense 10c) after defend v. 3b. The specific legal use in senses of branch III. originated in the custom of defendants in all kinds of litigation making a formal denial of all ‘force and wrong’ and of the claimant's right, with criminal defendants denying all that was alleged against them. In the proceedings of court cases, either classical Latin dēfendere or Anglo-Norman defendre defend v. were used, both in their specific sense ‘to deny’; only in later use was this denial of guilt and responsibility associated with senses of branch I. (compare quot. 1768 at sense 12). In the specific use in psychology (see sense 9) after the corresponding specific use (1885 or earlier) of German Abwehr defence, resistance (see Abwehr n.).

Etymology: Partly < defence n., and partly < classical Latin dēfensāre to act in defence against, to protect (frequentative formation < dēfendere defend v.). Compare Middle French deffenser , deffencer to defend, protect (1444; 1425 in sense ‘to forbid (something)’, Old Occitan defensar . Compare earlier defend v. and later defenced adj., and also defencing adj.