Wordwyrt

fence

/ˈfens/FENS
/ˈfɛns/FENS

Meaninga warding off

Common meaning: a barrier enclosing land

Journey through time

  1. Latin-fendō, -fēnsum‘to strike, ward off’
  2. Englishfence‘a barrier enclosing land’ · today

fenc also in: defendoffenddefence

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin -fendō ‘to strike, ward off’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry -fendō, p. 528 · dictionary scan; Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry FENCE, p. 206 · dictionary scan

Roots

Related words

defencedefendoffend

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app