Etymograph

English

fend

Fend comes from Middle English fenden ‘defend, fight, prevent’, from Latin dēfendō ‘to ward off’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- ‘strike, kill’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷʰen-‘strike, kill’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fendōreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsame form‘hit, thrust’reconstructed
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēfendō‘to ward off’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400deffendre‘to defend’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fenden‘defend, fight, prevent’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1697fend

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷʰen-‘strike, kill’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fendōreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsame form‘hit, thrust’reconstructed
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēfendō‘to ward off’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400deffendre‘to defend’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fenden‘defend, fight, prevent’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1697fend

Earliest quotation: 1697, Virgil, The Third Book of the Georgics: “With fern beneath to fend the bitter cold.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- ‘strike, kill’

fence, bane, infest, 7 more

through Latin *fendō ‘hit, thrust’

offensive, offense, 6 more

through Latin dēfendō ‘to ward off’

defense, defence, defendant, defensor, 5 more

Another origin of fend

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₁-‘to hate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fijandz‘enemy, fiend’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fijandreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150fēond‘adversary, foe, enemy, fiend, devil, Satan’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fēnd‘an enemy, foe or fiend’
  6. Englishtodayfend

Today it means

verb To take care of oneself; to take responsibility for one's own well-being.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- / fend

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