defiance

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English defiaunce,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French desfiance (“challenge, declaration of war”), also defiance,^[3][5][6][4] which is recorded in Anglo-Norman from 1155 for a challenge or declaration of hostility.^[7] The Old French noun is formed from desfier (“to challenge, defy; to renounce”), the source of defy, with the suffix -ance,^[5][4][8] or, as Etymonline and Barnhart put it, from the present participle desfiant.^[3][6] The OED compares Old Occitan desfiansa and Italian disfidanza, all from a Romance *disfīdantia.^[5] The verb is from *disfīdō (“to renounce one's faith”),^[3] from Latin dis- (“away”) and fīdus (“faithful”),^[3] from Proto-Indo-European *bheidh- (“to trust, confide, persuade”).^[3] French défiance, now only distrust, owes that sense to Latin diffidentia (“distrust”), the source of diffidence.^[5][9][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A declaration of hostilities, a challenge to combat: about 1300, in Kyng Alisaunder, where Alexander reads a written defiance.^[2][5][6][3] The OED groups the first quotation under the renunciation of faith, allegiance or friendship.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Hoad traces three stages: a declaration of hostilities in the 14th century, a challenge to combat in the 15th, and setting at nought in the 18th.^[8] The old sense of renouncing allegiance or friendship lasted until 1649,^[5][9] and at defiance, at enmity, from 1556 to 1705.^[5] A challenge to fight or to maintain a cause is found from about 1430, in Lydgate;^[5] Johnson (1755) gave this as the first sense, quoting Romeo and Juliet: Tybalt "breath'd defiance to my ears".^[10] The modern sense, open and daring resistance to authority or opposing force, is first recorded in Steele's Tatler in 1710,^[5][3] and the phrases bid defiance to (1632, Burton) and in defiance of (1750, Johnson's Rambler) followed.^[5] Shakespeare used it once for rejection or contempt, and Pepys in 1662 for distrust, as in modern French.^[5] The adjective defiant came only in the 19th century, before 1837.^[6][8]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – renunciation of allegiance; declaration of hostilities (obsolete by 1649).^[5][2]
• c. 1430 – a challenge to fight.^[5]
• 1556 – at defiance, at enmity (obsolete by 1705).^[5]
• 1632 – bid defiance to.^[5]
• 1662 – distrust, in Pepys.^[5]
• 1710 – open, daring resistance to authority.^[5][3]
• 1750 – in defiance of.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Open, bold resistance to authority, opposition or power: The strikers marched in defiance of the ban.^[11][4][5]
2. A challenging attitude or act; a challenge, especially to fight.^[11][4][9]
3. in defiance of: with open disregard of; in spite of.^[5][9]
4. (obsolete, 1300–1649) Renunciation of allegiance or friendship; a declaration of hostility.^[5][4][9]

Word family

• nondefiance

Related words

• defy
• defiant
• diffidence
• faith
• fidelity
• confide

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins