défense French · revision 16846

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=mid-12th century, Lois de Guillaume le Conquérant|origins=la defendo}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /de.fɑ̃s/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''défense''' ''f'' (plural défenses)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|dēfēnsa|t=defence]], the feminine past participle, used as a noun, of [[la|dēfendō|t=to ward off, defend]], the source of [[défendre]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|3, 29a) The Late Latin word was created in place of classical [[m|la|dēfēnsiō]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Old texts also have [[m|fro|defension]] and [[m|fro|defendement]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Compare [[pro|defensa]] and [[es|defensa]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Lois de Guillaume le Conquérant'' (mid-12th century) have ''defense de plait'', “defending oneself in a lawsuit”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==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.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) 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).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The military sense now makes it almost a euphemism for war, as in ''ministère de la Défense''.^(DHLF 1992)

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+ 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.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) 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).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) [[défenseur]] dates from 1213, and [[défensif]] from the 14th century.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Mid-12th century – Defence in a lawsuit.^(TLFi)

+ * 1165–1170 – “Objection”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1176 – Resisting a feeling; battlements, in Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1177 – A prohibition.^(TLFi)

+ * 1213 – ''Défenseur''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1249 – The means of defending one's cause.^(TLFi)

+ * 1585 – A tusk, in Paré.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1851 – ''La défense'', the accused and counsel.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|defence|alt=Defence]], protection against attack: ''la défense du pays'', ''légitime défense'', self-defence, ''prendre la défense de'', to stand up for.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The military means of a country: ''défense nationale''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(law)'' The defence, ''la défense'', the accused and their counsel.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(sport)'' The defence.^(Wiktionary)

+ # A prohibition: ''défense de'' (and infinitive), it is forbidden to.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # A [[m|en|tusk]]: ''défenses d'éléphant'', ''les défenses du sanglier, du morse''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(nautical)'' A [[m|en|fender]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==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”.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}