respondent

One who responds.

The defending party in certain legal proceedings, as in a case brought by petition.

Giving or given as an answer; responsive.

Of or being a respondent in a proceeding.

A defendant in a lawsuit, now specifically in a divorce case.

Answering; responding.

Conformable; corresponding.

One who responds; specifically, in a scholastic disputation, one who maintains a thesis, and defends it against the objections of one or more opponents.

Specifically One who answers or is called on to answer a petition or an appeal.

In mathematics, a quantity in the body of a table: opposed to argument, or the regularly varying quantity with which the table is entered.