fend
/ˈfɛnd/ · verb
Meaning
- To take care of oneself; to take responsibility for one's own well-being.
- To defend, to take care of (typically construed with for); to block or push away (typically construed with off).
- Self-support; taking care of one's own well-being.
- An enemy; fiend; the Devil.
Etymology / origin
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”).
- *gʷʰen-(ine-pro)→
- *fendō(itc-pro)→
- dēfendō(la)→
- deffendre(Old French)→
- fenden(enm)→
- *gʷʰen-(ine-pro)→
- fend (English)
- Relations: root, inh, der, der, der, der
Related words
Descendant words
- fenda(Maltese) (bor)
- fend(Manx) (bor)
Sources
No citations have been attached yet.