English Explanatory Dictionary

defiance

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The feeling, or spirit of being defiant.
  2. Open or bold resistance to or disregard for authority, opposition, or power; refusing to give up.
  3. A challenging attitude or behaviour; challenge.
name
  1. A small city in Shelby County, Iowa, United States.
  2. An unincorporated community in Perry County, Kentucky, United States.
  3. An unincorporated community in St. Charles County, Missouri, United States.
  4. A former community in Worth County, Missouri.
  5. A city, the county seat of Defiance County, Ohio, United States. Named after Fort Defiance.
  6. An unincorporated community and census-designated place in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States.

Pronunciation

/dɪˈfaɪ(j)əns/ en-us-defiance.ogg

Word forms

defiance defiances

Etymology

From Middle English defiaunce, from Old French desfiance, from desfier. By surface analysis, defy + -ance.

Derived words

bid defiance to Fort Defiance nondefiance set at defiance Defiance County
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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