fend
/ˈfɛnd/ verb, noun
Also a form of fiend
Forms fends fending fended
- verb (intransitive) To take care of oneself; to take responsibility for one's own well-being.
- verb (rare, except as "fend for oneself") To defend, to take care of (typically construed with for); to block or push away (typically construed with off).
- noun (obsolete) Self-support; taking care of one's own well-being.
- noun (UK dialectal) An enemy; fiend; the Devil.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English fenden (“defend, fight, prevent”), shortening of defenden (“defend”), from Old French deffendre (Modern French défendre), from Latin dēfendō (“to ward off”), from dē- + *fendō (“hit, thrust”), from Proto-Italic *fendō, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- (“strike, kill”).
From Middle English fēnd, feond, from Old English fēond (“adversary, foe, enemy, fiend, devil, Satan”), from Proto-Germanic *fijandz, present participle of *fijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hate”). More at fiend.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A fiend. [Obs.] Chaucer.
- verb To keep off; to prevent from entering or hitting; to ward off; to shut out; --often with off; as, to fend off blows.
- verb To act on the defensive, or in opposition; to resist; to parry; to shift off. The dexterous management of terms, and being able to fend . . . with them, passes for a great part of learning. Locke.
Etymology [Abbrev. fr. defend.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “fend”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details