Lewis & Short

Parsing inflected forms may not always work as expected. If the following does not give the correct word, try Latin Words or Perseus.

dēfenso, āvi, ātum, 1, v. a. intens. [defendo].

  1. * I. To fend off diligently, ward off: metus, Stat. S. 5, 2, 105.
  2. II. To defend diligently, protect (rare; mostly ante-class. and poet., not in Cic. or Caes.): moenia, Plaut. Rud. 3, 3, 30; Sall. J. 26, 1; 60, 3: alios ab hostibus, id. ib. 97: humeros, Ov. M. 12, 376: se ipsa moenia, Liv. 26, 45 (al. defendebant): se injuria, Plaut. Bacch. 3, 3, 39.
    Absol.: dum defensamus (sc. armentum), Ov. M. 11, 374.

dēfensor, ōris, m., rar. f. [defendo, ].

  1. I. One who fends, wards, averts, or keeps off: necis, Cic. Mil. 22, 58: periculi, id. Mur. 2.
  2. II. A defender, protector.
      1. 1. In gen. (for syn. cf.: tutor, praeses, vindex, cognitor, curator, patronus, advocatus, causidicus): paterni juris, Cic. de Or. 1, 57, 244; cf. id. Mil. 15: juris et libertatis, id. Rab. perd. 4, 12: octo tribuni plebis, illius adversarii, defensores mei, id. Mil. 15; cf. Hor. S. 2, 5, 30; opp. petitor, Quint. 4, 2, 132: bonus, id. 5, 13, 3 et saep.; opp. accusator, id. 7, 2, 31; 5, 13, 3; Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 38, § 82 et saep.; cf. patronus. Once fem.: mulier defensor alicujus, Dig. 16, 1, 2 fin.: canes defensores, Varr. R. R. 2, 9.
      2. 2. Esp. in plur., defensores, the garrison: oppidum vacuum ab defensoribus, Caes. B. G. 2, 12; id. ib. 3, 25 et saep.; Sall. J. 23; Liv. 21, 11; Verg. A. 2, 521; Ov. M. 13, 274 et saep.
      3. 3. Defensor civitatis, or plebis, or loci, in the later period of the empire (since 365 A.D.), title of a magistrate in the provincial cities, whose chief duty was to afford protection against oppression on the part of the governor; he was likewise endowed with a subordinate civil jurisdiction, Cod. Theod. 1, 11; Cod. Just. 1, 55; Just. Inst. 1, 20, 5.
    1. * B. Of inanimate subjects, as the guards (sublicae) of a bridge, Caes. B. G. 4, 17 fin.