Defendant Meaning
/dɪˈfɛnd.ənt/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjServing, or suitable, for defense; defensive, defending.
nounIn 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.
Sentence Examples
The prosecution condemned the defendant for kidnapping a child.
The presiding judge sentenced the defendant to death.
He sentenced the defendant to life in prison.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The jury deliberated for hours before finding the ____ not guilty of all charges.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The prosecution condemned the ____ for kidnapping a child.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English defendaunt (“defending; defending in a suit”), borrowed from Old French defendant, present participle of defendre, from Latin dēfendere.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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;"
— 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]:
"404(b)—including a series of domestic abuse incidents defendant perpetrated against victim, a PFA against defendant by victim, and other third-party PFAs entered against defendant to protect other women—as well as evidence from[…]"
— 2019 November 29, Daniel J. Anders, Bobby Ochoa III, Ohlbaum on the Pennsylvania Rules of Evidence, LexisNexis, →ISBN:
"Unintended mathwashing occurs when the algorithm is left unchecked, and, learning from historical data, amplifies social bias. The U.S. justice system uses an algorithm called COMPAS to determine a criminal's likelihood to re-offend. COMPAS has been proven by Pro Publica to predict that black defendants will have higher rates of recidivism than they actually do, while white defendants are predicted to have lower rates than they actually do."
— 2018 January 29, Sophie Kleber, “As AI Meets the Reputation Economy, We're All Being Silently Judged”, in Harvard Business Review, Brighton, M.A.: Harvard Business Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 May 2023:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The jury deliberated for hours before finding the ____ not guilty of all charges.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The prosecution condemned the ____ for kidnapping a child.