# defender

> English word · Noun · IPA /dɪˈfɛndə(ɹ)/ · frequency rank #5,954

## Definitions
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. A lawyer who represents defendants, especially a public defender; a defense attorney (US) or defence counsel (UK).
5. A defendant in a civil action.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **defense** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/defender-vs-defense)
- **depended** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/defender-vs-depended)
- **defend** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/defend-vs-defender)
- **defence** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/defence-vs-defender)
- **defended** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/defended-vs-defender)

## Common misspellings (12)
`ddefender`, `deefnder`, `defedner`, `defendder`, `defenderr`, `defendre`, `defenedr`, `defennder`, `deffender`, `defneder`, `dfeender`, `edfender`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/defender