defendant

defendant

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of defendant in English

English Online Dictionary. What means defendant‎? What does defendant mean?

English

Alternative forms

  • defendaunt (obsolete)

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /dɪˈfɛnd.ənt/

Etymology 1

From Middle English defendaunt (defending; defending in a suit), borrowed from Old French defendant, present participle of defendre, from Latin dēfendere.

Adjective

defendant (comparative more defendant, superlative most defendant)

  1. Serving, or suitable, for defense; defensive, defending.

Etymology 2

From Middle English defendaunt (defendant in a suit; defender), borrowed from Old French defendant, nominalisation of defendant; see above.

Noun

defendant (plural defendants)

  1. (law) In civil proceedings, the party responding to the complaint; one who is sued and called upon to make satisfaction for a wrong complained of by another.
  2. (law) In criminal proceedings, the accused.
Usage notes

In Canadian law, defendant is generally used only for a party being sued civilly; a person being tried criminally is the accused.

Antonyms
  • (in civil proceedings): plaintiff, claimant
  • (in criminal proceedings): prosecutor
Hypernyms
  • litigant
Derived terms
  • codefendant
Related terms
  • respondent
Translations

Latin

Verb

dēfendant

  1. third-person plural present active subjunctive of dēfendō

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This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.