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.
雙語例句
1. Those people who took up weapons to defend themselves are political prisoners.
那些拿起武器自衛的人是些政治犯。
來自柯林斯例句
2. Torrence expects to defend her title successfully in the next Olympics.
托倫斯希望在下屆奧運會上能夠衛冕成功。
來自柯林斯例句
3. Every man who could fight was now committed to defend the ridge.
每個能夠參加戰斗的男子現在都決心要保衛這條山脊。
來自柯林斯例句
4. They are ready to defend themselves against Uncle Sam's imperialist policies.
他們已做好抗擊美國帝國主義政策的準備。
來自柯林斯例句
5. To argue otherwise is trying to defend the indefensible.