defendant [dih-fen -duh nt or especially in court for 1 , -dant]
Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for defendant on Thesaurus.com Law a person, company, etc., against whom a claim or charge is brought in a court (opposed to plaintiff ). Obsolete defender .Show More
Origin of defendant 1275–1325; Middle English defendaunt <
Anglo-French (
Middle French, Old French defendant ). See
defend ,
-ant Related forms non·de·fend·ant , noun un·de·fend·ant , adjective Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for defendant Contemporary Examples of defendant The complaint continues, “During this period of time, defendant escaped police custody.”
“Defendant moved his hands in a manner so as to avoid the application of handcuffs to his wrists,” the complaint says.
They obtained a gag order against the defendant and his lawyers restricting what they could say about the case for several months.
“He might want 50 of this size and 40 of these,” said Crowder, who has been named as a defendant in dozens of lawsuits.
“The defendant told me he did not want to go back so jail,” the affidavit says.
Historical Examples of defendant In all this Eleazer had the air of conducting the case for the defendant .
And you, Cabasse, have you nothing to say either for or against the defendant ?
Rufus Choate represented the defendant and Daniel Webster the plaintiff.
The witness remembered how at the inquiry the defendant Ray had defended his accomplice.
Then tell the court how you came to identify the defendant as Drayton.
British Dictionary definitions for defendant a person against whom an action or claim is brought in a court of law Compare plaintiff Show More
making a defence; defending Show More
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for defendant n. c.1400, in the legal sense, from French défendant , present participle of défendre (see defend ). Earliest use in English was as a present participle adjective meaning "defending" (c.1300).
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
The party that is being sued in court. (Compare plaintiff .)
Show More
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
