Other forms: defendants
The defendant is the person being sued or tried in court. The defendant pleaded not guilty. Counsel for the defendant.
It is the counterpart of the claimant in a civil case and of the prosecution in a criminal one — and in criminal courts the accused is also used. The stress is on the second syllable: de-FEN-dant. Note that defendant is a role rather than a judgement: a defendant is somebody a case is being brought against, which is the whole point of the presumption of innocence and the reason careful journalism uses the word rather than a stronger one.
1noundefendantThe person against whom a legal case is brought.
“The defendant gave evidence on the third day.”
synonyms: the accused
defendant is a role in a legal case.
Also accepted in games: the accused
Latin defendere, to ward off, gives both defend and defendant — the second being the present participle, the one doing the defending. The word describes the person's position in the case and nothing else.
Latin
dēfendō
Old French
defendant
Middle English
defendaunt — defending; defending in a suit
English, today
defendant
From Middle English defendaunt (“defending; defending in a suit”), borrowed from Old French defendant, present participle of defendre, from Latin dēfendō.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA