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-1‘strike, kill’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fendō1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*fendō1‘hit, thrust’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēfendō1‘to ward off’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400deffendre1‘to defend’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fenden1‘defend, fight, prevent’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1697fend1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English fend
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1697, Virgil, The Third Book of the Georgics: “With fern beneath to fend the bitter cold.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷʰen-Wiktionary, English fend‘strike, kill’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fendōWiktionary, English fendreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*fendōWiktionary, English fend‘hit, thrust’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēfendōWiktionary, English fend‘to ward off’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400deffendreWiktionary, English fend‘to defend’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fendenWiktionary, English fend‘defend, fight, prevent’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1697fendWiktionary, English fend. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 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.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fend”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

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

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