défendent

Défendent is a common French verb form derived from défendre, meaning to defend, protect, or prohibit. The form défendent is the third-person plural present tense, used with ils or elles: ils défendent, elles défendent. In written French, the same spelling also appears in the third-person plural present subjunctive after que, as in qu’ils défendent, qu’elles défendent, though the subjunctive and indicative are distinguished by context rather than spelling alone.

Etymology and basic morphology: défendre comes from Old French defendre, which itself traces to Latin defendere (de- + fendere “to strike, ward off”). The present tense forms follow regular -re verb conjugation patterns in the nous and vous forms, with the stem défense- for most forms in the present tense: je défends, tu défends, il/elle défend, nous défendons, vous défendez, ils/elles défendent.

Usage and senses: The verb covers both defensive actions and prohibition. In the sense “to defend,” it appears in phrases like ils défendent leurs droits (they defend their rights) or ils défendent le village contre l’envahisseur (they defend). In the prohibition sense, it is common in impersonal or periphrastic constructions: il est défendu de fumer ici (it is forbidden to smoke here) or on leur défend d’entrer (they are forbidden to enter / it is forbidden for them to enter). The present participle défendant forms part of constructions like en défendant, meaning “while defending.”

See also: Défense, Défenseur, Dé(s)te; the noun défense refers to protection or defense, and the defender is a person who defends.

Notes: Défendent should not be confused with the English noun defendant, which is a different word with a distinct etymology and spelling.