defend
/dɪˈfɛnd/verb
defend is spelled D-E-F-E-N-D: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 30 times per million words in written English, the 3,161st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, defend means “To ward off attacks against (something or someone)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in defend?
| Letters | 6: D-E-F-E-N-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 30 times per million words; the 3,161st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is defend?
Defend appears 30 times per million words in written English, the 3,161st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce defend?
- UK /dɪˈfɛnd/
- US /dɪˈfɛnd/
- US /diˈfɛnd/
Defend has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-defend.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with defend?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as defend from its last stressed vowel (/ɛnd/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of defend
- defends present, singular, he/she/it
- defending participle, present
- defended participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does defend mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To ward off attacks against (something or someone).
- 2
To ward off attacks from (something or someone).
- 3
To support by words or writing; to vindicate, talk in favour of.
- 4
To make legal defence of; to represent (the accused).
- 5
To focus one's energies and talents on preventing opponents from scoring, as opposed to focusing on scoring.
- 6
Mostly in tests. The action of not putting force into hitting a shot, but to conserve energy and wear down bowlers so they can attack later.
The teams strategy was to defend but score runs as well for the first 20 overs.
- 7
To attempt to retain a title, or attempt to reach the same stage in a competition as one did in the previous instance of that competition.
- 8
slangTo call a raise from the big blind.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Defend in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense ward off attacks against:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | défendre |
| German | verteidigen |
| Portuguese | defender, proteger |
| Spanish | defender, defensar, volver por sí |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does defend come from?
From Middle English defenden, from Old French defendre, deffendre (Modern French défendre), from Latin dēfendō (“to ward off”), from Proto-Italic *fendō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen-. Displaced native Old English bewerian.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).