defendant

See also: défendant

English

Alternative forms

• defendaunt (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈfɛnd.ənt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

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.
   • 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]:

     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;

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

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “in civil proceedings”): plaintiff, claimant
• (antonym(s) of “in criminal proceedings”): prosecutor

Hypernyms

• litigant

Derived terms

• codefendant

Related terms

• respondent

Translations

party responding to the complaint

• Czech: odpůrce (cs) m
• Hungarian: alperes (hu)
• Italian: convenuto (it) m, controparte (it) f

person prosecuted or sued, the accused

• Arabic: مُدَّعًى عَلَيْهِ m (muddaʕan ʕalayhi), مُتَّهَم m (muttaham), مُتَّهَمَة f (muttahama)
• Armenian: ամբաստանյալ (hy) (ambastanyal) (in criminal proceedings), պատասխանող (hy) (patasxanoġ) (in civil proceedings)
• Belarusian: абвінава́чаны m (abvinaváčany), абвінава́чаная f (abvinaváčanaja), абвінава́чваны m (abvinaváčvany), абвінава́чваная f (abvinaváčvanaja), падвiно́ўны m (padvinóŭny), падвiно́ўная f (padvinóŭnaja), адка́зчык m (adkázčyk), адка́зчыца f (adkázčyca), падсу́дны m (padsúdny), падсу́дная f (padsúdnaja), падсудзі́мы m (padsudzímy), падсудзі́мая f (padsudzímaja)
• Bengali: মুদ্দালেহ (muddaleho)
• Bulgarian: обвиня́ем (bg) m (obvinjáem), обвиня́ема (bg) f (obvinjáema), отве́тник m (otvétnik), отве́тничка f (otvétnička), отве́тница f (otvétnica), подсъди́м (bg) m (podsǎdím), подсъди́ма (bg) f (podsǎdíma)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 被告 (zh) (bèigào)

• Czech: obžalovaný (cs) m, obžalovaná (cs) f, obviněný (cs) m, obviněná (cs) f, žalovaný m, žalovaná f
• Danish: indstævnte
• Dutch: verdachte (nl) m or f (in criminal proceedings), verweerder (nl) m (in civil proceedings)
• Esperanto: akuzito (male or female), akuzitino (female)
• Estonian: kaebealune
• Finnish: vastaaja (fi)
• French: inculpé (fr) m, inculpée (fr) f, défendeur (fr) m, défenderesse (fr) f
• Georgian: მოპასუხე (moṗasuxe)
• German: Angeklagter (de) m, Angeklagte (de) f, Angeschuldigter (de) m, Angeschuldigte (de) f, Beschuldigter (de) m, Beschuldigte (de) f, Beklagter (de) m, Beklagte (de) f
• Greek: εναγόμενος (el) m (enagómenos), εναγομένη (el) f (enagoméni), κατηγορούμενος (el) m (katigoroúmenos), κατηγορουμένη (el) f (katigorouméni)

  Ancient: κατηγορούμενος m (katēgoroúmenos), κατηγορουμένη f (katēgorouménē)

• Hebrew: נאשם \ נֶאֱשָׁם (he) m (ne'eshám), נאשמת \ נֶאֱשֶׁמֶת f (ne'eshémet)
• Hindi: प्रतिवादी (hi) m (prativādī)
• Hungarian: vádlott (hu), terhelt (hu)
• Indonesian: tergugat (id)
• Interlingua: accusato
• Irish: cosantóir m
• Italian: imputato (it) m, imputata (it) f, accusato (it) m, accusata (it) f
• Japanese: 被告 (ja) (ひこく, hikoku)
• Khmer: ចុងចោទ (congcaot)
• Korean: 피고(被告) (ko) (pigo), 피고인(被告人) (ko) (pigoin)
• Latin: reus m
• Macedonian: обвинет m (obvinet), обвинета f (obvineta), оптуженик m (optuženik), оптуженичка f (optuženička)
• Malayalam: പ്രതി (ml) (prati)
• Maori: kaikaro, whakatuaki
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: anklagede

• Persian: خوانده (fa) (xânde)
• Polish: oskarżony (pl) m, oskarżona (pl) f, pozwany (pl) m, pozwana f
• Portuguese: réu (pt) m, ré (pt) f, acusado (pt) m, acusada f
• Russian: обвиня́емый (ru) m (obvinjájemyj), обвиня́емая (ru) f (obvinjájemaja), отве́тчик (ru) m (otvétčik), отве́тчица (ru) f (otvétčica), подсуди́мый (ru) m (podsudímyj), подсуди́мая (ru) f (podsudímaja)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бра̑њенӣк m, бра̑њеница) f, оптужѐнӣк m, оптужѐница f

  Roman: brȃnjenīk (sh) m, brȃnjenica (sh) f, optužènīk (sh) m, optužènica (sh) f

• Slovak: žalovaný m, žalovaná f, obžalovaný m, obžalovaná f
• Slovene: obtoženi m, obtožena f
• Spanish: acusado (es) m, acusada (es) f
• Swedish: anklagad (sv) c
• Thai: จำเลย (th) (jam-ləəi)
• Turkish: sanık (tr)
• Ukrainian: звинува́чений m (zvynuváčenyj), звинува́чена f (zvynuváčena), відповіда́ч m (vidpovidáč), відповіда́чка f (vidpovidáčka), підсу́дний m (pidsúdnyj), підсу́дна f (pidsúdna), обвинува́чуваний m (obvynuváčuvanyj), обвинува́чувана f (obvynuváčuvana)
• Urdu: مدعا علیہ
• Vietnamese: bị cáo (vi)

Latin

Verb

dēfendant

1. third-person plural present active subjunctive of dēfendō