defendant

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• defendaunt (obsolete)

Etymology

From defend +‎ -ant

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dɪˈfɛndənt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

defendant (plural defendants)

1. (law) In civil proceedings, the party responding to the complaint; one who is sued and called upon to make satisfaction for a wrong complained of by another.
2. (law) In criminal proceedings, the accused.

Antonyms

• (in civil proceedings): plaintiff
• (in criminal proceedings): prosecutor

Hypernyms

• litigant

Related terms

• respondent

Translations

person prosecuted or sued

• Arabic: مدعى عليه (ar) (mudda`iy `alayhi) m
• Bulgarian: обвиняем (bg) (obvinjaem) m, ответник (bg) (otvetnik) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: trad. and simpl. 被告 (pinyin: bèigào)

• Czech: obžalovaný m, obviněný m, žalovaný m
• Finnish: vastaaja (fi)
• French: inculpé (fr), défendeur (fr)
• German: Angeklagter m, Angeklagte f
• Greek: εναγόμενος (enagomenos), κατηγορούμενος (katigoroumenos)
• Hebrew: נאשם (ne'esham) m, נאשמת (ne'eshemet) f

• Indonesian: tergugat (id)
• Interlingua: accusato
• Irish: cosantóir (ga) m
• Japanese: 被告 (ひこく hikoku)
• Polish: oskarżony (pl) m
• Portuguese: réu m, ré f; acusado m, acusada f
• Russian: обвиняемый (ru) (obvinjájemyj) m, ответчик (ru) (otvétčik) m, подсудимый (ru) (podsudímyj) m
• Serbian: branjenik m, branjenica f
• Slovene: obtoženi m, obtožena f
• Spanish: acusado (es) m

Adjective

defendant (comparative more defendant, superlative most defendant)

1. Serving, or suitable, for defense; defensive.
   • Shakespeare

     With men of courage and with means defendant.

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Latin

Verb

dēfendant

1. third-person plural present active subjunctive of dēfendō
   1. "may they drive away"
   2. "may they defend, may they guard, may they protect"