DEFEND, in our ancient laws and statutes, signifies to prohibit or forbid; as Usuarios defendit quoque rex Edwardus ne remaneret in regno. 1. 1. Edw. Conf. cap. 38,
Defender and 5th Rich. II. cap. 7. In this sense Chaucer also uses the following passage :
Defoe. Where can you say in any manner, age,
That ever God defended marriage.
In 7th Edward I. there is a statute entitled "Statutum de defensione portandi armi," &c. And "it is defended by law to restrain on the highway."