Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “defendant” come from?

Defendant comes from Middle English defendaunt, from Old French defendant, the present participle of Old French defendre, from Latin defendere, composed of the prefix Latin de- and Latin de, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European de.

defendant (English): Serving, or suitable, for defense; defensive,...

Definitions

  1. Serving, or suitable, for defense; defensive,...

Ancestry of “defendant”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishdefendauntdefending; defending in a suit; defendant in a...
2Old Frenchdefendant—
3Latindēfendere—

Words derived from “defendant”

  • codefendant
  • multidefendant
  • nondefendant
  • prodefendant
  • antidefendant
  • co-defendant
Every word from Latin dēfendere →