defense

See also: défense

English

Alternative forms

• defence (British)

Etymology

(deprecated template usage)

From French défense, itself from Late Latin dēfensa (“protection”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈfɛns/
• IPA^(key): /dɪˈfɛns/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (sports): IPA^(key): /ˈdiːˌfɛns/
• Rhymes: -ɛns

Noun

defense (countable and uncountable, plural defenses) (American spelling)

1. The action of defending or protecting from attack, danger, or injury.
2. Anything employed to oppose attack(s).
   1. (team sports) A strategy and tactics employed to prevent the other team from scoring; contrasted with offense.
   2. (team sports) The portion of a team dedicated to preventing the other team from scoring; contrasted with offense.
3. An argument in support or justification of something.
4. (government, military) Government policy or (infra)structure related to the military.

   Department of Defense

5. (obsolete) A prohibition; a prohibitory ordinance.
   • Sir W. Temple

     Severe defenses […] against wearing any linen under a certain breadth.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:defense

Antonyms

• offense

Derived terms

• antidefense
• defenseless
• defensive
• defensiveness
• defensive scheme
• defensive system
• ecodefense
• Nuremberg defense

 

Translations

action of protecting from attack

• Afrikaans: verdediging
• Albanian: mbrojtje (sq) f
• Arabic: دِفَاع (ar) m (difāʕ), حِمَايَة f (ḥimāya), مُحَافَظَة f (muḥāfaẓa)
• Armenian: պաշտպանություն (hy) (paštpanutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani: müdafiə (az), qoruma, mühafizə (az)
• Belarusian: абаро́на f (abaróna)
• Bengali: রক্ষা (rôksha)
• Bulgarian: защи́та (bg) f (zaštíta), отбра́на (bg) f (otbrána)
• Burmese: ကာကွယ်ရေး (my) (ka-kwaire:)
• Catalan: defensa (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 防禦／防御 (zh) (fángyù), 防御 (zh) (fángyù)

• Czech: obrana (cs) f
• Danish: forsvar
• Dutch: verdediging (nl) f, weer (nl) f
• Esperanto: defendo
• Estonian: kaitse
• Faroese: verja
• Finnish: puolustautuminen, puolustus (fi)
• French: défense (fr) f
• Georgian: თავდაცვა (tavdacva), მოგერიება (mogerieba)
• German: Verteidigung (de) f, Wehr (de) f
• Greek: άμυνα (el) f (ámyna)
• Hebrew: הגנה (he) f (hagana) (action of protecting someone), התגוננות f (hitgonenut) (action of protecting oneself)
• Hindi: बचाव (hi) (bacāv), रक्षा (hi) f (rakṣā)
• Hungarian: védelem (hu), védekezés (hu), védés
• Icelandic: vörn f
• Ido: defenso (io)
• Indonesian: pertahanan (id)
• Irish: cosaint f
• Italian: difesa (it) f
• Japanese: 防御 (ja) (ぼうぎょ, bōgyo), 防禦 (ja) (ぼうぎょ, bōgyo)
• Kazakh: қорғаныс (qorğanys), қорғану (qorğanu)
• Khmer: ការពារ (km) (kaa pie), កិច្ចការពារ (kəc kaa pie)
• Korean: 방어 (ko) (bang'eo)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: بەرگْری (bergirî)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Kyrgyz: коргонуу (ky) (korgonuu), коргоо (ky) (korgoo)
• Lao: ການຫ້າມປາມ (kān hām pām)
• Latvian: aizsardzība f
• Lithuanian: gynyba f
• Macedonian: одбрана f (odbrana)
• Malay: pertahanan
• Mongolian: сэргийлэл (mn) (sergiilel)
• Norman: d'fense f
• Norwegian: forsvar
• Occitan: defensa f
• Old English: bewerung f
• Pashto: دفاع (ps) (defã')
• Persian: دفاع (fa) (defâ'), پدافند (fa) (padâfand), حمایت (fa) (hemâyat), محافظت (fa) (mohâfazat)
• Polish: obrona (pl) f
• Portuguese: defesa (pt) f
• Quechua: amachay
• Romanian: apărare (ro) f
• Russian: оборо́на (ru) f (oboróna), защи́та (ru) f (zaščíta)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: о̏дбрана f, о̏брана f

  Roman: ȍdbrana (sh) f, ȍbrana (sh) f

• Sinhalese: ආරක්ෂක (ārakṣaka)
• Slovak: obrana f
• Slovene: obramba (sl) f
• Spanish: defensa (es) f
• Swedish: försvar (sv) n
• Tajik: дифоъ (difoʾ), мудофиа (mudofia), ҳимоя (himoya), муҳофиза (muhofiza), муҳофизат (tg) (muhofizat)
• Thai: การป้องกัน (th) (gaan-bpông-gan)
• Turkish: savunma (tr), koruma (tr)
• Ukrainian: оборо́на (uk) f (oboróna), за́хист (uk) m (záxyst)
• Urdu: رکشا f (rakṣā), دفاع (difā')
• Uyghur: ھىمايە (himaye), مۇداپىئە (mudapi'e)
• Uzbek: himoya (uz), mudofaa (uz)
• Vietnamese: cái để bảo vệ
• Yiddish: פאַרטיידיקונג f (farteydikung)

anything employed to oppose attack

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: պաշտպանություն (hy) (paštpanutʻyun)
• Bulgarian: отбра́на (bg) (otbrána), отбранителни съоръжени pl (otbranitelni sǎorǎženi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 防禦物／防御物, 防御物 (fángyùwù)

• Czech: obrana (cs) f
• Danish: forsvar
• Dutch: verdediging (nl) f, verweer (nl) n
• Faroese: verja
• Finnish: puolustus (fi)
• Georgian: თავდაცვა (tavdacva)
• German: Verteidigung (de) f
• Greek: άμυνα (el) f (ámyna) (ámyna)
• Hebrew: הגנה (he) f (hagana)
• Hungarian: védelem (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: بەرگری (bergirî)

• Latin: mūnīmen n, mūnīmentum n
• Macedonian: одбрана f (odbrana)
• Maori: whakarurunga
• Polish: obrona (pl) f
• Portuguese: defesa (pt) f, escudo (pt) m
• Romanian: apărare (ro) f
• Russian: защи́та (ru) f (zaščíta), оборо́на (ru) f (oboróna), оборони́тельные сооруже́ния n pl (oboronítelʹnyje sooružénija)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: о̏дбрана f, о̏брана f

  Roman: ȍdbrana (sh) f, ȍbrana (sh) f

• Spanish: defensa (es) f
• Swedish: försvar (sv) n

team sports: strategy and tactics

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: պաշտպանություն (hy) (paštpanutʻyun)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: obrana (cs) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Finnish: puolustus (fi)
• Hungarian: védelem (hu), védekezés (hu)
• Romanian: apărare (ro) f
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

team sports: portion of a team

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: պաշտպանություն (hy) (paštpanutʻyun)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 防守 (zh) (fángshǒu)

• Czech: obrana (cs) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Finnish: puolustus (fi)
• Hungarian: védelem (hu)
• Romanian: apărare (ro) f
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

argument in support or justification of something

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: obrana (cs) f
• Dutch: verweer (nl) n
• Finnish: puolustus (fi), puolustelu (fi)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἀπολογία f (apología)

• Hungarian: védés, védekezés (hu), védelem (hu)
• Italian: difesa (it) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Macedonian: одбрана f (odbrana)
• Polish: obrona (pl) f
• Portuguese: defesa (pt) f
• Romanian: apărare (ro) f
• Russian: защи́та (ru) f (zaščíta)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: о̏дбрана f, о̏брана f

  Roman: ȍdbrana (sh) f, ȍbrana (sh) f

• Spanish: descargo (es)
• Swedish: försvar (sv) n

government policy or structure

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: obrana (cs) f
• Finnish: puolustus (fi), maanpuolustus (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Georgian: თავდაცვა (tavdacva), თავდაცვის სამინისტრო (tavdacvis saminisṭro)
• Old English: utwaru f, wiþermal n
• Romanian: apărare (ro) f
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

prohibitory ordinance

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Czech: zákaz (cs) m
• Finnish: kielto (fi)
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

---

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /deːˈfen.se/, [d̪eːˈfẽːs̠ɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /deˈfen.se/, [d̪eˈfɛnse]

Participle

(deprecated template usage) dēfēnse

1. vocative masculine singular of dēfēnsus

---

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /deˈfen.se/

Verb

defense

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of defensar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of defensar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of defensar.
4. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of defensar.