Defendant

How to spell defendant

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce defendant

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does defendant mean?

1. nounThe person or party accused or sued in a court of law, opposed to the plaintiff or prosecution.

Defendant in a sentence

• The defendant pleaded not guilty to all charges.

• The judge asked the defendant to rise before reading the verdict.

Where does defendant come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb defendere, which literally meant 'to ward off' or 'to strike away', built from the prefix de- 'off, away' and the verb -fendere 'to strike' (a root also hidden inside 'offend' and 'fence'). In Latin and later in law French, the present participle defendant described the party who was warding off an accusation, that is, the person being sued or charged. English took the word in through Old French during the 1300s, and it settled firmly into legal language as the counterpart to the plaintiff. The spelling trap lives in the ending: although the word relates to 'defend', the noun keeps the Latin participle ending -ant rather than the -ent many writers expect. Remembering that the accused must 'fend' off a charge, and that the suffix is -ant, helps keep the spelling steady.

How the word is built

• de- (off, away)
• fend (from Latin -fendere: to strike, ward off)
• -ant (noun suffix: one who)