defendant

D2E1F4E1N1D2A1N1T1
/dɪˈfɛnd.ənt/

adjective

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

Similar
respondentsuspect
Opposite
plaintiffclaimantprosecutor
OriginMiddle English defendaunt ← Old French defendant ← Latin dēfendere →
CommonScrabble 14
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Meanings

defendant1

adjectivedefendant (comparative more defendant, superlative most defendant)

comparative more defendant · superlative most defendant · alternative obsolete defendaunt

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

    Thus comes the English with full power upon us; And more than carefully it us concerns To answer royally in our defences. Therefore the Dukes of Berri and of Bretagne, Of Brabant and of Orleans, shall make forth, And you, Prince Dauphin, with all swift dispatch, To line and new repair our towns of war With men of courage and with means defendant;

    1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]

defendant2

noundefendant (plural defendants)

plural defendants · alternative obsolete defendaunt

  1. lawIn 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.

    404(b)—including a series of domestic abuse incidents defendant perpetrated against victim, a PFA against defendant by victim, and other third-party PFAs entered against defendant to protect other women—as well as evidence from[…]

    2019 November 29, Daniel J. Anders, Bobby Ochoa III, Ohlbaum on the Pennsylvania Rules of Evidence, LexisNexis, →ISBN

    Synonyms: respondent

  2. lawIn criminal proceedings, the accused.
    1 more example

    Unintended mathwashing occurs when the algorithm is left unchecked, and, learning from historical data, amplifies social bias. The U.S. justice system uses an algorithm called COMPAS to determine a criminal's likelihood to re-offend. COMPAS has been proven by Pro Publica to predict that black defendants will have higher rates of recidivism than they actually do, while white defendants are predicted to have lower rates than they actually do.

    2018 January 29, Sophie Kleber, “As AI Meets the Reputation Economy, We're All Being Silently Judged”, in Harvard Business Review, Brighton, M.A.: Harvard Business Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 May 2023

Synonyms & antonyms

nounIn 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.

Similar
respondent

antonym(s) of “in civil proceedings”

Opposite
plaintiffclaimant

antonym(s) of “in criminal proceedings”

Opposite
prosecutor
Broader
litigant

More synonyms by meaning

nouna person or institution against whom an action is brought in a court of law; the person being sued or accused

Similar
suspect
Opposite
plaintiff
Broader
litigantlitigator
Also see
prosecuteesuspect

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

defendant · adjective

  1. Latindēfendere
  2. Old Frenchdefendant
  3. Middle Englishdefendaunt“defending; defending in a suit”
  4. Englishdefendant

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

More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

defendant · noun

  1. Old Frenchdefendant
  2. Middle Englishdefendaunt“defendant in a suit; defender”
  3. Englishdefendant

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

More words from Middle English, Old French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek κατηγορούμενος, κατηγορουμένη
  • κατηγορούμενος (katēgoroúmenos)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • κατηγορουμένη (katēgorouménē)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
Arabic مُدَّعًى عَلَيْهِ, مُتَّهَم
  • مُدَّعًى عَلَيْهِ (muddaʕan ʕalayhi)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • مُتَّهَم (muttaham)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • مُتَّهَمَة (muttahama)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
Bengali মুদ্দালেহ
  • মুদ্দালেহ (muddaleho)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
Bulgarian обвиня́ем, обвиня́ема
  • обвиня́ем (obvinjáem)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • обвиня́ема (obvinjáema)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • отве́тник (otvétnik)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • отве́тничка (otvétnička)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • отве́тница (otvétnica)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • подсъди́м (podsădím)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • подсъди́ма (podsădíma)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
Chinese Mandarin 被告
  • 被告 (bèigào)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
Czech odpůrce, obžalovaný
  • odpůrceparty responding to the complaint
  • obžalovanýperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • obžalovanáperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • obviněnýperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • obviněnáperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • žalovanýperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • žalovanáperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
Danish indstævnte
  • indstævnteperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
Dutch verdachte, verweerder
  • verdachteperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • verweerderperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
Esperanto akuzito, akuzitino
  • akuzitoperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • akuzitinoperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
Estonian kaebealune
  • kaebealuneperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
Finnish vastaaja
  • vastaajaperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
French inculpé, inculpée
  • inculpéperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • inculpéeperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • défendeurperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • défenderesseperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
German Angeklagter, Angeklagte
  • Angeklagterperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • Angeklagteperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • Angeschuldigterperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • Angeschuldigteperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • Beschuldigterperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • Beschuldigteperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • Beklagterperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • Beklagteperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
Greek εναγόμενος, εναγομένη
  • εναγόμενος (enagómenos)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • εναγομένη (enagoméni)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • κατηγορούμενος (katigoroúmenos)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • κατηγορουμένη (katigorouméni)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
Hebrew נאשם \ נֶאֱשָׁם, נאשמת \ נֶאֱשֶׁמֶת
  • נאשם \ נֶאֱשָׁם (ne'eshám)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • נאשמת \ נֶאֱשֶׁמֶת (ne'eshémet)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
Hindi प्रतिवादी, अभियुक्त
  • प्रतिवादी (prativādī)party responding to the complaint
  • अभियुक्त (abhiyukt)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • प्रतिवादी (prativādī)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
Hungarian alperes, vádlott
  • alperesparty responding to the complaint
  • vádlottperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • terheltperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
Icelandic sakborningur
  • sakborningurperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
Indonesian tergugat
  • tergugatperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
Irish cosantóir
  • cosantóirperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
Italian convenuto, controparte
  • convenutoparty responding to the complaint
  • controparteparty responding to the complaint
  • imputatoperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • imputataperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • accusatoperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • accusataperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
Japanese 被告
  • 被告 (hikoku)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
Korean 피고, 피고인
  • 피고 (pigo)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • 피고인 (pigoin)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
Latin reus
  • reusperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
Māori kaikaro, whakatuaki
  • kaikaroperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • whakatuakiperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
Norwegian Bokmål anklagede
  • anklagedeperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
Persian خوانده
  • خوانده (xânde)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
Polish oskarżony, oskarżona
  • oskarżonyperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • oskarżonaperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • pozwanyperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • pozwanaperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
Portuguese réu, ré
  • réuperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • réperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • acusadoperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • acusadaperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
Russian обвиня́емый, обвиня́емая
  • обвиня́емый (obvinjájemyj)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • обвиня́емая (obvinjájemaja)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • отве́тчик (otvétčik)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • отве́тчица (otvétčica)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • подсуди́мый (podsudímyj)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • подсуди́мая (podsudímaja)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
Slovak žalovaný, žalovaná
  • žalovanýperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • žalovanáperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • obžalovanýperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • obžalovanáperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
Spanish acusado, acusada
  • acusadoperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • acusadaperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
Swedish anklagad
  • anklagadperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
Thai จำเลย
  • จำเลย (jam-ləəi)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
Turkish sanık
  • sanıkperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
Ukrainian звинува́чений, звинува́чена
  • звинува́чений (zvynuváčenyj)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • звинува́чена (zvynuváčena)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • відповіда́ч (vidpovidáč)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • відповіда́чка (vidpovidáčka)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • підсу́дний (pidsúdnyj)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • підсу́дна (pidsúdna)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • обвинува́чуваний (obvynuváčuvanyj)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • обвинува́чувана (obvynuváčuvana)person prosecuted or sued, the accused
Urdu مدعا علیہ
  • مدعا علیہperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
Vietnamese bị cáo, bị đơn
  • bị cáoperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
  • bị đơnperson prosecuted or sued, the accused
Cite this entry
APA

defendant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defendant

MLA

“defendant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defendant. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “defendant,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defendant.

Source: defendant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.