ward.
A warden; a guard; a guardian or watchman.
Meaning & usage
A warden; a guard; a guardian or watchman.
Where this word comes from
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.
Protection, defence. The action of a watchman; monitoring, surveillance (usually in phrases keep ward etc.)
Protection, defence. Guardianship, especially of a child or prisoner.
Protection, defence. 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.
Protection, defence. A guarding or defensive motion or position.
Protection, defence. Land tenure through military service.
A protected place, and by extension, a type of subdivision. An area of a castle, corresponding to a circuit of the walls.
A protected place, and by extension, a type of subdivision. A section or subdivision of a prison.
A protected place, and by extension, a type of subdivision. An administrative division of a borough, city or council.
On our last visit to Tokyo, we went to Chiyoda ward and visited the Emperor’s palace.
A protected place, and by extension, a type of subdivision. A division of a forest.
A protected place, and by extension, a type of subdivision. A subdivision of the LDS Church, smaller than and part of a stake, but larger than a branch.
A protected place, and by extension, a type of subdivision. A part of a hospital, with beds, where patients reside.
A person under guardianship. A minor looked after by a guardian.
After the trial, little Robert was declared a ward of the state.
A person under guardianship. An underage orphan.
An object used for guarding.
An object used for guarding. The ridges on the inside of a lock, or the incisions on a key.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English ward, warde, from Old English weard (“watching, ward, protection, guardianship; advance post; waiting for, lurking, ambuscade”), from Proto-West Germanic *wardu, from Proto-Germanic *wardō (“protection, attention, keeping”), an extension of the stem *wara- (“attentive”) (English wary, beware), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to cover”). Cognate with German Warte (“watchtower”), warten (“wait for”); English guard is a parallel form which came via Old French.
To keep in safety, to watch over, to guard.
To defend, to protect.
To fend off, to repel, to turn aside, as anything mischievous that approaches. (usually followed by off)
To be vigilant; to keep guard.
To act on the defensive with a weapon.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English warden, from Old English weardian (“to watch, guard, keep, protect, preserve; hold, possess, occupy, inhabit; rule, govern”), from Proto-West Germanic *wardēn, from Proto-Germanic *wardōną, *wardāną (“to guard”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to heed, defend”). Doublet of guard.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.