"to defend" in seven languages

Meaningto defend

Spanish

defender

/defenˈdeɾ/

inherited

Stem-changing: defiendo, defiendes.

French

défendre

/defɑ̃dʁ/

inherited

Also 'to forbid': il est défendu de fumer.

Italian

difendere

/diˈfɛndere/

inherited

Portuguese

defender

/defẽˈdeh/

inherited

Romanian

apăra

/apəˈra/

other source · Latin APPARĀRE 'to prepare'

Catalan

defensar

/dəfənˈsa/

other source · Latin DĒFĒNSĀRE, frequentative of DĒFENDERE

Defendre also exists, but defensar is the everyday verb.

English

defend

/dɪˈfɛnd/

from Latin/French · Old French defendre

English → Italianto defenddifendereCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

DĒFENDERE‘to ward off’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

Spanish shows its old stock in the present tense: the stressed e breaks to ie (defiendo). French défendre also means 'to forbid' — 'warding off' an action.

English relatives: defence, defensive, fence (short for defence), offend

Sound laws at work

French vowel + nasal becomes a nasal vowel

Learn it

Practice the Core verbs deck Quiz a friend on it

In a sentence

esSiempre defiende a su hermano pequeño.
frElle défend toujours son petit frère.
itDifende sempre il suo fratellino.
ptEla sempre defende o irmão mais novo.
roÎși apără mereu fratele mai mic.
caSempre defensa el seu germà petit.
enShe always defends her little brother.

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words