défense

Pronunciation

• IPA: /de.fɑ̃s/^[1]

Forms

défense f (plural défenses)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin dēfēnsa (“defence”), the feminine past participle, used as a noun, of Latin dēfendō (“to ward off, defend”), the source of défendre.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The Late Latin word was created in place of classical dēfēnsiō.^[5] Old texts also have defension and defendement.^[7]

Compare Old Occitan defensa and Spanish defensa.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Lois de Guillaume le Conquérant (mid-12th century) have defense de plait, “defending oneself in a lawsuit”.^[2][3][7]

Semantic evolution

In law it also meant the means used to defend one's cause (1249), and in 1851 (Cournot) the accused and his counsel, as opposed to the prosecution.^[2][3] Chrétien de Troyes uses it for resisting a feeling (1176), for defence in combat (1177–1178) and for the means of defence, the battlements of a tower (1176).^[2][3] The military sense now makes it almost a euphemism for war, as in ministère de la Défense.^[3]

After another sense of the verb it has meant a prohibition since 1177 (Chrétien's Chevalier au lion); the sense “objection” (1165–1170) has died out.^[2][3] From the 15th century it was a fortification term for stakes, and the long projecting tooth of some mammals, the elephant's tusk, is in Ambroise Paré (1585).^[5][3][4] défenseur dates from 1213, and défensif from the 14th century.^[5]

Timeline

• Mid-12th century – Defence in a lawsuit.^[2]
• 1165–1170 – “Objection”.^[2]
• 1176 – Resisting a feeling; battlements, in Chrétien de Troyes.^[2]
• 1177 – A prohibition.^[2]
• 1213 – Défenseur.^[5]
• 1249 – The means of defending one's cause.^[2]
• 1585 – A tusk, in Paré.^[4][3]
• 1851 – La défense, the accused and counsel.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Defence, protection against attack: la défense du pays, légitime défense, self-defence, prendre la défense de, to stand up for.^[8][9][1]
2. The military means of a country: défense nationale.^[8][3]
3. (law) The defence, la défense, the accused and their counsel.^[2][1]
4. (sport) The defence.^[1]
5. A prohibition: défense de (and infinitive), it is forbidden to.^[1][3]
6. A tusk: défenses d'éléphant, les défenses du sanglier, du morse.^[8][1]
7. (nautical) A fender.^[1]

Related words

• défendre
• défenseur
• défensif

Usage notes

The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert give défense “tusk” a numbered entry of its own (16th century), formed from défense “what serves for defence”.^[4][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 29a
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse