Etymology

defense mechanism

Today it means: A psychological strategy used unconsciously by people to cope with harmful or stressful situations. Full definition →

German Abwehrmechanismus
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The story

  1. German · calque ofAbwehrmechanismus
  2. English todaydefense mechanism

Calque of German Abwehrmechanismus, a concept in the Freudian model.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.