Unnumbered source etymology · variant 1/2
Original entry ↗A thin artificial barrier that separates two pieces of land or forms a perimeter enclosing the lands of a house, building, etc. · Someone who hides or buys and sells stolen goods, a criminal middleman for transactions of stolen goods. · The place whence such a middleman operates. · Skill in oral debate.
From Middle English fence, fens, short for defence, defens (“the act of defending”), from Old French defens, defense (see defence). The sense "enclosure" arises in the mid 15th century. Also from the 15th century is use as a verb in the sense "to enclose with a fence". The generalized sense "to defend, screen, protect" arises ca. 1500. The sense "to fight with swords (rapiers)" is from the 1590s (Shakespeare). Displaced native Old English heġe (compare Modern English hedge).
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
This page abbreviates 6 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "root",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*gʷʰen-"
},
"expansion": ""
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "fence"
},
"expansion": "Middle English fence"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fro",
"3": "defens"
},
"expansion": "Old French defens"
},
{
"name": "ncog",
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "heġe"
},
"expansion": "Old English heġe"
}
],
"links": [
[
"fence",
"fence#Middle_English"
],
[
"fens",
"fens#Middle_English"
],
[
"defence",
"defence#Middle_English"
],
[
"defens",
"defens#Middle_English"
],
[
"defens",
"defens#Old_French"
],
[
"defense",
"defense#Old_French"
],
[
"defence",
"defence"
],
[
"heġe",
"hege#Old_English"
],
[
"hedge",
"hedge#English"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "Ido",
"lang_code": "io",
"word": "fenco",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Japanese",
"lang_code": "ja",
"word": "フェンス",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "fensu"
},
{
"lang": "Korean",
"lang_code": "ko",
"word": "펜스",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "penseu"
},
{
"lang": "Maltese",
"lang_code": "mt",
"word": "fens",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Pennsylvania German",
"lang_code": "pdc",
"word": "Fens",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"lang_code": "gd",
"word": "feansa",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Welsh",
"lang_code": "cy",
"word": "ffens",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
}
],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"A thin artificial barrier that separates two pieces of land or forms a perimeter enclosing the lands of a house, building, etc.",
"Someone who hides or buys and sells stolen goods, a criminal middleman for transactions of stolen goods.",
"The place whence such a middleman operates.",
"Skill in oral debate."
],
"tags": [
"countable",
"uncountable",
"informal",
"broadly"
],
"recordId": "31a5ade6850af5e3592039b4d4b376f7a3d11777a6930e5002085c753eb071a8",
"rawRecordSha256": "aaca5923884a7f054013a3ee041e3caeb3d18b7a8f1c7ce6801283cbb410bb08",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 257371
}
],
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"descendants": 0,
"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 6,
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}
}