defend: [13] Defend comes via Old French defendre from Latin dēfendere ‘ward off’, a compound verb formed from the prefix dē- ‘off, away’ and an element that survives elsewhere only in other compound forms (represented in English by offend). It has been suggested that this is related to Sanskrit han- ‘strike’ and Old English gūth ‘battle’, and that it can be traced ultimately to a prehistoric Indo-European *gwendh-.
Defend had not long become established in English when it produced the offspring fend, dispensing with the first syllable. This in turn formed the basis of the derivatives fender [15] and forfend [14]. Fence likewise comes from defence. => fence, fend
defend (v.)
mid-13c., 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, push," from PIE root *gwhen- "to strike, kill" (see bane). In the Mercian hymns, Latin defendet is glossed by Old English gescildee. Related: Defended; defending.
例文
1. Those people who took up weapons to defend themselves are political prisoners.
武器を手にして自衛する人は政治犯だ。
2.Torrence expects to defend her title successfully in the next Olympics.
テレンスは次のオリンピックでの防衛に成功することを望んでいる。
3.Every man who could fight was now committed to defend the ridge.
戦闘に参加できる男は今、この尾根を守ることを決意している。
4.They are ready to defend themselves against Uncle Sam 's imperialist policies.
彼らはアメリカ帝国主義政策に対抗する準備ができている。
5.To argue otherwise is trying to defend the indefensible.