defend

de-, 向下，离开。-fend, 击，打，词源同bane, offend. 即击挡开，防御。

defend

defend: [13] Defend comes via Old French defendre from Latin dēfendere ‘ward off’, a compound verb formed from the prefix dē- ‘off, away’ and an element that survives elsewhere only in other compound forms (represented in English by offend). It has been suggested that this is related to Sanskrit han- ‘strike’ and Old English gūth ‘battle’, and that it can be traced ultimately to a prehistoric Indo-European *gwendh-.

Defend had not long become established in English when it produced the offspring fend, dispensing with the first syllable. This in turn formed the basis of the derivatives fender [15] and forfend [14]. Fence likewise comes from defence.
=> fence, fend

defend (v.)

mid-13c., from Old French defendre (12c.) "defend, resist," and directly from Latin defendere "ward off, protect, guard, allege in defense," from de- "from, away" (see de-) + -fendere "to strike, push," from PIE root *gwhen- "to strike, kill" (see bane). In the Mercian hymns, Latin defendet is glossed by Old English gescildeð. Related: Defended; defending.

1. Those people who took up weapons to defend themselves are political prisoners.

那些拿起武器自卫的人是些政治犯。

2. Torrence expects to defend her title successfully in the next Olympics.

托伦斯希望在下届奥运会上能够卫冕成功。

3. Every man who could fight was now committed to defend the ridge.

每个能够参加战斗的男子现在都决心要保卫这条山脊。

4. They are ready to defend themselves against Uncle Sam's imperialist policies.

他们已做好抗击美国帝国主义政策的准备。

5. To argue otherwise is trying to defend the indefensible.

持相反的论点就是试图为站不住脚的事情强辩。