defy

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English defien,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French desfier, also defier,^[4][3][5][6] from Vulgar Latin *disfīdō (“to renounce one's faith”),^[3][7][5][8] formed from dis- (“away, apart”) and fīdus (“faithful, trusty”),^[3][5][4] which is related to fidēs (“faith”), the source of faith,^[7][9][6] from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- (“to trust, confide, persuade”).^[3][5] Medieval Latin had diffīdāre,^[3][4] and the same Romance verb gave Italian disfidare and diffidare.^[4][8] Merriam-Webster instead analyses the French verb as des- plus fier (“to entrust”), from a Vulgar Latin alteration of Latin fīdō (“to trust”).^[10][11] The Anglo-Norman verb, recorded from about 1136, already meant to defy or challenge, to declare war on, and to renounce one's allegiance.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

To renounce one's faith or allegiance to someone; to declare hostilities against: about 1300, in Kyng Alisaunder.^[4][9][3]

Semantic evolution

Ayto describes the underlying notion as the renunciation of allegiance,^[7] and the OED sees the sense development as "renounce faith or friendship with, declare hostility against, challenge to fight".^[4] In Middle English the verb also meant to reject, repudiate or despise something;^[2][4] Chaucer used it of renouncing a bond.^[2][4] The sense "to challenge to combat" is recorded from about 1380,^[4] mid-14th century in Etymonline,^[3] and "to challenge the power of, resist openly" from 1377, in Piers Plowman;^[4] Barnhart dates the meaning "withstand, challenge" to before 1338, in Mannyng's chronicle.^[9] Ayto calls this a slight shift from being disloyal to actively challenging someone's power.^[7] From 1674 one could defy someone to do something thought impossible,^[4][3] and since 1715 things themselves could defy description or effort, being beyond their power.^[4] A sense "to distrust" (about 1380–1604), as in modern French, may have come from diffīdō (“to distrust”), whose Old French reflex was difier;^[4][13] Weekley relates that sense to diffident.^[13] Johnson (1755) defined the verb as "to call to combat; to challenge" and "to treat with contempt".^[14]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – to renounce allegiance to; to declare war on.^[4][9]
• c. 1320 – to reject, despise (obsolete by 1727).^[4]
• 1377 – to challenge the power of, resist openly.^[4]
• c. 1380 – to challenge to combat.^[4]
• 1586 – noun defy, a challenge, from French défi.^[4]
• 1674 – to dare someone to do something.^[4][3]
• 1698 – defy the odds.^[4]
• 1715 – of things, to resist completely, be beyond the power of.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To resist or disobey a person, authority or law openly and boldly: The workers defied the order to return.^[11][10][4]
2. To elude or be beyond the power of, especially in a baffling way: The noise defied explanation.^[11][4]
3. To challenge someone to do something thought impossible; to dare: I defy anyone to find a mistake in it.^[11][4][10]
4. (archaic) To challenge to battle or combat.^[11][4][10]
5. (obsolete) To renounce one's allegiance to; to declare war on.^[4][10]

Word family

• defiable
• defyingly
• defier
• undefied

Related words

• defiance
• defiant
• faith
• fidelity
• diffident
• confide

Usage notes

A noun defy, a challenge or defiance, borrowed from French défi, is recorded from 1586;^[4][10] Collins labels it chiefly American.^[11] A separate Middle English verb defien, to digest, of uncertain origin, was used from about 1315 to 1542.^[4][2]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
13. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.