defensa

Forms

defensa f (plural defensas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin dēfēnsa (“defence”), the feminine of dēfēnsus, past participle of dēfendō (“to ward off; to defend”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Lewis and Short record the Latin noun in Tertullian.^[6] Before it, Old Spanish said defendimiento or used the learned defensión, from classical dēfēnsiō.^[2] Corominas takes the noun as a learned word; the verb defender is itself a very old semi-learned word, recorded in 1155.^[2][3]

The popular outcome of the same Latin word is dehesa “enclosed pasture”, recorded from 924, with the old forms devesa, defesa and hedesa.^[7][8][1] Vox notes that the learned word stays closer to the Latin sense.^[9] The same Latin word gave Portuguese defesa and Portuguese devesa, Italian difesa and French défense.^[7][10] Nascentes takes the first Portuguese form as semi-learned and the second as popular.^[11]

The Latin verb is formed from dē- and an unattested *fendō (“to strike, thrust”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- (“to strike, kill”); offendō has the same base.^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's first hit is in the Latin text of the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes, where a defensa is a reserved pasture of the town.^[12] The first Castilian example is in the Fuero de Plasencia (c. 1300, in a copy of the end of the 13th or the beginning of the 14th century), where a man who wants more defensa for his meadow, that is protection from grazing cattle, must fence it in.^[12] Corominas dated the word from Alonso de Palencia's Universal vocabulario of 1490.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the word is used for the resistance of troops and of a besieged place, as in the Gran crónica de Alfonso XI: en los moros ovo poca defensa “the Moors put up little resistance”.^[12] Autoridades defines it as a shield or means of resisting a danger, and as protection and relief; it notes that the older form was defesa, and gives the old sense “prohibition”, matching the old meaning “to forbid” of the verb.^[13][2] Terreros added the defence pleaded in a lawsuit and the works that protect soldiers and fortresses.^[14]

The Academy's dictionary of 1843 records the nautical sense, pieces of old cable hung over the side of a boat to protect it, and Gaspar y Roig's dictionary the tusks of the wild boar.^[15][16] In Mexico, Cuba and elsewhere in Latin America defensa is the bumper of a car, recorded by Santamaría for Cuba from Ortiz's Cubanismos.^[17][18] Modern uses include the defending players of a team, the body's natural defences against disease and an opening system in chess.^[4][19]

Timeline

• 1218–c. 1250 – the Latin Fuero de Zorita de los Canes has defensa for a reserved pasture.^[12]
• c. 1300 – the first Castilian example, in the Fuero de Plasencia.^[12][20]
• c. 1348–1379 – the Gran crónica de Alfonso XI (in a copy of about 1500).^[12]
• 1490 – Alonso de Palencia;^[21] Corominas's date.^[2][3]
• 1550 – first records from the Americas, in Panama.^[21]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades notes the older form defesa and the sense “prohibition”.^[13]
• 1843 – the Academy adds the nautical sense.^[15]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology from Latin defensa.^[22]

Meanings

Noun

1. defence: the act and effect of defending or defending oneself: Salió en defensa de su hermano.^[4][1]
2. A weapon or other means with which one defends oneself in danger.^[4]
3. Shelter, protection, help (amparo).^[4]
4. (chiefly in the plural) A fortification (fortificación) that defends a town or camp.^[4]
5. (biology, also in the plural) The natural mechanism by which an organism protects itself from outside attack: Tiene las defensas bajas.^[4][23]
6. (chess) A set of planned moves forming a particular strategy.^[4]
7. (law) The argument put forward in court against the claim of the plaintiff; the lawyer or lawyers defending a party or the accused.^[4][19]
8. (Cuba, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Uruguay) The bumper of a car (parachoques).^[4][18]
9. (in the plural) The tusks of an elephant, the horns of a bull.^[4][19]
10. (nautical, in the plural) Fenders hung over the side of a boat.^[4]
11. (sports) The defensive line of a team; as a masculine or feminine noun, each of its players.^[4][1]

Word family

• autodefensa

Related words

• defender
• dehesa
• defensor
• defensivo
• ofensa
• Latin dēfendō
• English defense

Usage notes

Set phrases include legítima defensa “self-defence”, a circumstance exempting from criminal liability, and defensa personal, unarmed self-defence technique.^[4] In Honduras the plural is a vulgar word for the buttocks.^[18]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 434
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. defender
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. defensa
5. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 217
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 197
8. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. art. 2146
9. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. defensa
10. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. devesa
11. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. defesa
12. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. defensa
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 48
14. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 1, 598
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 229
16. ^ Gaspar y Roig (eds.) (1853–1855), Biblioteca ilustrada de Gaspar y Roig: Diccionario enciclopédico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Imprenta y Librería de Gaspar y Roig, p. 1, 740
17. ^ Santamaría, Francisco J. (1959), Diccionario de mejicanismos, México: Porrúa, p. 434
18. ^ a b c Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. defensa
19. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. defensa
20. ^ Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. defensa
21. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. defensa
22. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 342
23. ^ Real Academia Nacional de Medicina (2011), Diccionario de términos médicos, Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana; online at https://dtme.ranm.es, p. s.v. defensa