defender
/dɪˈfɛndə(ɹ)/noun
defender is spelled D-E-F-E-N-D-E-R: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,957th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, defender means “Someone who defends people or property” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of defender is defenders.
How many letters and syllables are in defender?
| Letters | 8: D-E-F-E-N-D-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 13 times per million words; the 5,957th 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 defender?
Defender appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,957th 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 defender?
- UK /dɪˈfɛndə(ɹ)/
Defender has 3 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-defender.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with defender?
4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as defender from its last stressed vowel (/ɛndə/, British pronunciation):
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 defender
- defenders plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does defender mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Someone who defends people or property.
- 2
One of the players whose primary task is to prevent the opposition from scoring.
- 3
A fighter who seeks to repel an attack.
- 4
rareA lawyer who represents defendants, especially a public defender; a defense attorney (US) or defence counsel (UK).
- 5
A defendant in a civil action.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Defender in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | défenseur, défenseuse |
| German | Verteidiger, Verteidigerin |
| Portuguese | defensor, defensora , zagueiro, beque |
| Spanish | defensor, defensora |
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 defender come from?
From Middle English defender, deffender, defendere, defendour, defendoure, partly from Anglo-Norman defendour, from Old French defendëor; partly from Middle English defenden + -ere, equivalent to defend + -er.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).