defensa

See also: defensà

Catalan

Etymology 1

From Late Latin dēfēnsa.

Noun

defensa f (plural defenses)

1. defense

Etymology 2

Verb

defensa

Further reading

• “defensa” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “defensa”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “defensa” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “defensa” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

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Latin

Etymology

Nominalization of the feminine form of the perfect passive participle of dēfendō.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /deːˈfen.sa/, [d̪eːˈfẽːs̠ä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /deˈfen.sa/, [d̪eˈfɛnsä]

Noun

dēfēnsa f (genitive dēfēnsae); first declension (Late Latin)

1. (Late Latin) defense, protection

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	dēfēnsa	dēfēnsae
Genitive	dēfēnsae	dēfēnsārum
Dative	dēfēnsae	dēfēnsīs
Accusative	dēfēnsam	dēfēnsās
Ablative	dēfēnsā	dēfēnsīs
Vocative	dēfēnsa	dēfēnsae

Descendants

• → Catalan: defensa
• → English: defense, defence
• → French: défense
• Galician: devesa
• → Galician: defensa
• Italian: difesa
• → Norman: d'fense (Jersey)
• → Occitan: defensa
• Portuguese: defesa
• Spanish: dehesa
• → Spanish: defensa

Participle

(deprecated template usage) dēfēnsa

1. nominative feminine singular of dēfēnsus
2. nominative neuter plural of dēfēnsus
3. accusative neuter plural of dēfēnsus
4. vocative feminine singular of dēfēnsus
5. vocative neuter plural of dēfēnsus

Participle

(deprecated template usage) dēfēnsā

1. ablative feminine singular of dēfēnsus

References

• “defensa”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• defensa in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• defensa in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

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Occitan

Etymology

From Late Latin dēfēnsa.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

defensa f (plural defensas)

1. defense

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Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin defensa (“bounded, defended”), from Latin defensus. Doublet of dehesa, which was inherited. Cognate with English defense.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /deˈfensa/ [d̪eˈfẽn.sa]
• Hyphenation: de‧fen‧sa

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

defensa f (plural defensas)

1. defense
2. retaining wall
3. (automotive) bumper

   Synonym: parachoques

Noun

defensa m (plural defensas)

1. (sports) back

Related terms

• defender
• defensivo

Further reading

• “defensa”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014