The action of defending from or resisting attack; a means of protecting something from harm.
From Old French 'defense', from Latin 'defensus', past participle of 'defendere' meaning 'to ward off, protect'. The word evolved from the basic concept of pushing away threats to encompass legal, military, and sports contexts.
The spelling 'defence' versus 'defense' reveals a fascinating split between British and American English that occurred during Noah Webster's spelling reforms in the early 1800s. Interestingly, the word shares its Latin root with 'fence', showing how physical barriers and abstract protection concepts are linguistically linked.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.