defense

English

/dɪˈfɛns/, /dɪˈfɛns/, /ˈdiːˌfɛns/

noun
Definitions
  • The action of defending or protecting from attack, danger, or injury.
  • Anything employed to oppose attack(s).
  • An argument in support or justification of something.
  • (government) Government policy or (infra)structure related to the military.
  • (obsolete) A prohibition; a prohibitory ordinance.

Etymology

Borrowed from French défense (defense) derived from dēfensa (protection) root from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- (kill, strike, slay, beat, hit, drive).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*gʷʰen-

Gloss

kill, strike, slay, beat, hit, drive

Concept
Semantic Field

The body

Ontological Category

Action/Process

Kanji

殺

Emoji

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms