# fend

> English word · Verb · IPA /fɛnd/ · frequency rank #22,083

## Definitions
1. To take care of oneself; to take responsibility for one's own well-being.
2. To defend, to take care of (typically construed with for); to block or push away (typically construed with off).

## Etymology
From Middle English fenden (“defend, fight, prevent”), shortening of defenden (“defend”), from Old French deffendre (Modern French défendre), from Latin dēfendō (“to ward off”), from dē- + *fendō (“hit, thrust”), from Proto-Italic *fendō, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- (“strike, kill”).

## Easily confused with
- **FN** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fend-vs-fn)
- **few** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fend-vs-few)
- **fun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fend-vs-fun)
- **fin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fend-vs-fin)
- **fer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fend-vs-fer)
- **fey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fend-vs-fey)
- **fez** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fend-vs-fez)
- **FNC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fend-vs-fnc)
- **FES** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fend-vs-fes)
- **FET** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fend-vs-fet)
- **feu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fend-vs-feu)
- **find** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fend-vs-find)
- **food** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fend-vs-food)
- **fine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fend-vs-fine)
- **fund** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fend-vs-fund)
- **ford** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fend-vs-ford)
- **Fred** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fend-vs-fred)
- **fled** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fend-vs-fled)
- **fond** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fend-vs-fond)
- **font** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fend-vs-font)

## Common misspellings (6)
`efnd`, `fedn`, `fendd`, `fennd`, `ffend`, `fned`

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