DEFENDANT

defendant, in law, a person against whom proceedings are instituted or directed; one who is called upon to answer in any suit. at one time the term "defendant" had a narrower meaning, that of a person sued in a personal action only, the corresponding term in a real action being "tenant," but the distinction is now practically disregarded, except in a few states of the united states. defender of the faith (_fidei defensor_), a title belonging to the sovereign of england in the same way as _christianissimus_ belonged to the king of france, and _catholicus_ belongs to the ruler of spain. it seems to have been suggested in 1516, and although certain charters have been appealed to in proof of an earlier use of the title, it was first conferred by pope leo x. on henry viii. the bull granting the title is dated the 11th of october 1521, and was a reward for the king's treatise, _assertio, septem sacramentorum_, against luther. when henry broke with the papacy, pope paul iii. deprived him of this designation, but in 1544 the title of "defender of the faith" was confirmed to henry by parliament, and has since been used by all his successors on the english throne. deferent (lat. _deferens_, bearing down), in ancient astronomy, the mean orbit of a planet, which carried the epicycle in which the planet revolved. it is now known to correspond to the actual orbit of the planet round the sun.