Etymologically
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defensive

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /dɪˈfen.sɪv/, /dəˈfen.sɪv/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English defensif, borrowed from Old French defensif and directly from Medieval Latin dēfēnsīvus,[2][3][4] from dēfēns-, the past participle stem of dēfendere (“to ward off, defend”).[2][5] See defend and defense.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Serving to defend, of the nature of defence: about 1400.[6][2] The noun, that which defends, is also from about 1400, at first of medicines.[2]

Semantic evolution

Made or carried on for defence, as opposed to offensive, is from 1580.[6] The noun, a posture of defence, as in on the defensive, is from about 1600.[2] In cricket, cautious batting is called defensive from 1872.[6] Of a person, quick to reject criticism, it is from 1919.[2][6]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – serving to defend.[6]
  • 1580 – as opposed to offensive.[6]
  • c. 1600 – on the defensive.[2]
  • 1872 – in cricket.[6]
  • 1919 – quick to reject criticism.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Used or intended to protect against attack.
  2. Quick to react to criticism, as though attacked.
  3. (sport) Concerned with stopping the other team from scoring.

Noun

  1. (on the defensive) A position or attitude of defence.

Word family

  • defensively
  • defensiveness
  • nondefensive
  • overdefensive
  • self-defensive
  • undefensive
  • defensive back
  • defensive medicine

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press