different between defendant vs culprit

English

Alternative forms

• defendaunt (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??f?nd.?nt/

Etymology 1

From Middle English defendaunt (“defending; defending in a suit”), borrowed from Old French defendant, present participle of defendre, from Latin d?fendere.

Adjective

defendant (comparative more defendant, superlative most defendant)

1. Serving, or suitable, for defense; defensive, defending.
   • c. 1598, William Shakespeare, Henry V, Act II, Scene 4,^[1]

     Thus comes the English with full power upon us;

     And more than carefully it us concerns

     To answer royally in our defences.

     Therefore the Dukes of Berri and of Bretagne,

     Of Brabant and of Orleans, shall make forth,

     And you, Prince Dauphin, with all swift dispatch,

     To line and new repair our towns of war

     With men of courage and with means defendant;

Etymology 2

From Middle English defendaunt (“defendant in a suit; defender”), borrowed from Old French defendant, nominalisation of defendant; see above.

Noun

defendant (plural defendants)

1. (law) In civil proceedings, the party responding to the complaint; one who is sued and called upon to make satisfaction for a wrong complained of by another.
2. (law) In criminal proceedings, the accused.

Antonyms

• (in civil proceedings): plaintiff, claimant
• (in criminal proceedings): prosecutor

Hypernyms

• litigant

Related terms

• respondent

Translations

Latin

Verb

d?fendant

1. third-person plural present active subjunctive of d?fend?

English

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman cul. prit, contraction of culpable: prest (d'averrer nostre bille) 'guilty: ready (to prove our case)', words used by prosecutor in opening a trial, mistaken in English for an address to the defendant. See culpable.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?k???p??t]

Noun

culprit (plural culprits)

1. The person or thing at fault for a problem or crime.

   I have tightened the loose bolt that was the culprit; it should work now.
2. (Britain, law) A prisoner accused but not yet tried.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:criminal

Related terms

• culpable
• mea culpa

Translations