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ward

Pronunciation: /wɔːd/

The English word “ward” has 20 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A warden; a guard; a guardian or watchman.
  2. The action of a watchman; monitoring, surveillance (usually in phrases keep ward etc.)
  3. Guardianship, especially of a child or prisoner.
  4. An enchantment or spell placed over a designated area or social unit, that prevents any tresspasser from entering; approaching; or even being able to locate said protected premises or demographic.
  5. A guarding or defensive motion or position.
  6. Land tenure through military service.
  7. An area of a castle, corresponding to a circuit of the walls.
  8. A section or subdivision of a prison.
  9. An administrative division of a borough, city or council.
  10. A division of a forest.
  11. A subdivision of the LDS Church, smaller than and part of a stake, but larger than a branch.
  12. A part of a hospital, with beds, where patients reside.
  13. A minor looked after by a guardian.
  14. An underage orphan.
  15. An object used for guarding.
  16. The ridges on the inside of a lock, or the incisions on a key.

verb

  1. To keep in safety, to watch over, to guard.
  2. To defend, to protect.
  3. To fend off, to repel, to turn aside, as anything mischievous that approaches. (usually followed by off)
  4. To be vigilant; to keep guard.

Etymology

From Middle English warde, from Old English weard (“keeper, watchman, guard, guardian, protector; lord, king; possessor”), from Proto-Germanic *warduz (“guard, keeper”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to heed, defend”). Cognate with Dutch waard, German Wart.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.