"Viva voce", a defense in presenting an academic thesis. usually we say Viva...

'答辩' it is not an ordinary chinese word. But, I have heard it in the Chinese movies, it is used in the court. The Judge may asked: How do you plead Mr.A.G ? Your answer to the judge is 答辩. The English word is plead, pleading.

hello~ sorry i am not sure which "答辩" do you mean? can you give some details? if you mean "论文答辩/毕业答辩"，that's "thesis defense",or "graduation reply"."答辩考试" "competitie examination".like these words above,in Chinese generally we can say "答辩". "答辩" also means "plea","defence". hmm~ hope my answer could help you some~ ^^

Hello A.G., It means 'to reply' to an accusation in particular.