fend

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English fenden, a shortening of defenden, defend.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]} That verb comes from Old French defendre and directly from Latin dēfendō (“to ward off, protect”),^[3][5] formed from dē- (“from, away”) and -fendō (“to strike, push”), found only in compounds,^[5] from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- (“to strike, kill”).^[3][5] Barnhart thinks the verb existed before 1279, when its derivative fender is recorded in the sense "defender".^[9] forfend is related,^[7][2] and the Oxford Dictionary of English compares fence and fencible.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

To defend, guard or protect; also to put up a fight, to excuse or justify, and to forbid: about 1300 in Etymonline,^[5] probably before 1300, in Arthour and Merlin, in Barnhart.^[9] The OED's first quotations are from Robert Mannyng's Chronicle of about 1330, both for "to defend" and for "to defend oneself".^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

From the mid-14th century the verb meant to make a defence and, usually with off, to ward off or keep at a distance.^[5] Fend off is recorded from about 1380 in Barnhart, before 1400 in the OED,^[9][4] while the simple verb in this sense appears in 1575, in Gascoigne.^[4] In 16th-century Scots it came to mean to make provision or to make an effort,^[5][4] which gave fend for, to look after and provide for, first recorded in 1629 in Thomas Jackson's Treatise of the Divine Essence, most often in fend for oneself.^[4][9][5] Weekley explains fend for oneself as to attend to one's own defence.^[11] The phrase fend and prove, to argue or wrangle, is recorded from about 1578;^[4][12] Johnson (1755) defined the intransitive verb as to dispute or shift off a charge, and the transitive as to keep off or shut out, quoting Dryden's Virgil.^[13] The sense "to forbid" was used from before 1500 and survived only in dialect.^[4] The plain sense "to defend" is now archaic or poetic,^[4][12][14] but Scottish and northern English dialects kept it, with "to strive" and "to provide for".^[15][14] The noun fend, an effort or attempt, is chiefly Scottish and is recorded from the early 18th century;^[4][16][12] in 1658 it was also a sailors' word for a fender.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – to defend, guard, protect.^[5][9] The OED's first record is from about 1330.^[4]
• c. 1380 – fend off, to ward off or keep off.^[9] The OED dates it before 1400.^[4]
• before 1500 – to forbid (later only in dialect).^[4]
• 1575 – to ward off, keep at a distance, without off.^[4]
• c. 1578 – fend and prove, to argue, wrangle.^[4]
• before 1600 – Scottish and dialect, to make an effort, strive.^[4]
• 1629 – fend for, to look after and provide for, as in fend for oneself.^[4][9]
• 1637 – to provide for, support (chiefly Scottish).^[4]
• 1721 – noun, an effort or attempt (chiefly Scottish).^[16] The OED's first record is from before 1724.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. fend off: to ward off or turn aside an attack, a blow or an unwelcome question: The minister fended off reporters' questions all afternoon.^[14][16][4]
2. fend for: to provide for or look after someone, especially in fend for oneself: After her parents moved abroad she had to fend for herself.^[14][4]
3. To push or keep a boat away from a shore, dock or another ship, often with off.^[16]
4. (archaic) To defend or protect.^[14][16][4]
5. (Scottish and northern English dialect) To struggle or strive.^[14][4][15]

Noun

1. (Scottish and northern English dialect) An effort or attempt, especially to support oneself.^[16][14][4]

Word family

• fender
• forfend

Related words

• defend
• defence
• fence
• fencible
• offend

References

1. ^ a b 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 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
15. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
16. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster