How to say “defend” in 31 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- защитить[zəɕːɪˈtʲitʲ] Russian
- دافع/daː.fa.ʕa/ Arabic
- დაცვა[d̥ät͡sʰʷä] Georgian
“defend” in French: défendre · Portuguese: defender · Russian: защитить · Arabic: دافع
It is commonest in Georgian, where დაცვა is the 379th most used word.
Defend in other languages, A to Z
- Albanian mbroj/mbɾɔj/ to protect; to defend #1,151
- Arabic دافع/daː.fa.ʕa/ to defend #1,983
- Armenian պաշտպանել/pɑʃpɑˈnel/ to protect, to defend #1,823
- Basque aldeztu/aldes̻tu/ to support, defend #2,489
- Bosnian zaštititi/zaʃtǐːtiti/ to defend, protect #1,708
- Bulgarian защитя[zɐʃtiˈtʲɤ̟] to shield, to protect, to defend #2,139
- Catalan protegir[pɾu.təˈʒi] to protect, defend #927
- Chinese 防守/fɑŋ³⁵ ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/ to guard; to defend; to protect #1,652
- Croatian zaštititi/zaʃtǐːtiti/ to defend, protect #1,250
- Czech bránit[ˈbraːɲɪt] to defend #2,017
- Danish beskytte/beˈsɡødə/ to defend, protect #587
- Dutch verdedigen/ˌvərˈdeː.də.ɣə(n)/ to defend #1,963
- English protect/pɹəˈtɛkt/ To keep safe; to defend; to guard; to prevent… #813
- Estonian kaitsta/ˈkɑi̯tstɑ/ to defend #651
- French défendre/de.fɑ̃dʁ/ to defend #1,912
- Galician defender[defenˈdeɾ] to defend #1,435
- Georgian დაცვა[d̥ät͡sʰʷä] to defend #379
- German beschützen[bəˈʃʏt͡sn̩] to protect, to guard, to defend #1,143
- Icelandic verja[ˈvɛrja] to defend, guard, protect #817
- Indonesian membela/məmˈbɛla/ to defend #1,878
- Macedonian штити[ˈʃtiti] to defend, shield, protect #2,362
- Norwegian forsvare/fɔˈʂvɑːrə/ to defend #1,743
- Polish broń/ˈbrɔɲ/ to defend #392
- Portuguese defender/de.fẽˈde(ʁ)/ to defend #2,378
- Russian защитить[zəɕːɪˈtʲitʲ] to defend, to guard, to protect #1,109
- Serbian zaštititi/zaʃtǐːtiti/ to defend, protect #2,170
- Slovak brániť/braːɲic/ to defend #1,127
- Slovenian braniti/branìːti/ to defend #1,129
- Spanish proteger/pɾoteˈxeɾ/ to protect, to defend #1,687
- Swedish försvara/fœrˈsvɑːra/ to defend #1,815
- Ukrainian захистити[zɐxeˈstɪte] to defend #1,352
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 4.0), Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0) and Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.