se defendendo

[see dee-fen-den-doh]

adverb

Law.

1. in self-defense.

   homicide committed se defendendo.

Word History and Origins

Origin of se defendendo¹

First recorded in 1540–50, se defendendo is from Latin sē dēfendendō

Example Sentences

Se defendendo, sē dē-fen-den′dō, n. the plea of a person charged with slaying another, that it was in his own defence.

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If the former British Ministry had stood, we might have secured it from England, and, in that case, France would have been obliged to admit us to their islands, se defendendo.

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Both the life and limbs of a man are of such high value, in the estimation of the law of England, that it pardons even homicide if committed se defendendo, or in order to preserve them.

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For this decision Wither afterwards attacked Sir Richard Onslow as a traitor, in two tremendous effusions entitled Se Defendendo and Justitiarius Justificatus, of which the latter landed him in prison and was burnt by the common hangman.

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When I wrote to you last year on reptiles, I wish I had not forgot to mention the faculty that snakes have of stinking se defendendo. 

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