ward
nounEtymology
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.
Definitions
A warden
A warden; a guard; a guardian or watchman.
- th'aſſieged Caſtles ward Their ſtedfaſt ſtonds did mightily maintaine
- no gate they found, them to withhold, Nor ward to wait at morne and euening late […].
- there is remuneration for the best ward of mine
Protection, defence.
- Before the dore ſat ſelfe-conſuming Care, Day and night keeping wary watch and ward, For feare leaſt Force or Fraud ſhould vnaware Breake in[…]
A protected place, and by extension, a type of subdivision.
- Diocletian[…]must certainly have derived some consolation from the grandeur of Aspalaton, the great arcaded wall it turned to the Adriatic, its four separate wards, each town size, and its seventeen watch-towers[…].
- With the castle so crowded, the outer ward had been given over to guests to raise their tents and pavilions, leaving only the smaller inner yards for training.
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A person under guardianship.
- After the trial, little Robert was declared a ward of the state.
- Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part. Thus outraged, she showed herself to be a bold as well as a furious virago. Next day she found her way to their lodgings and tried to recover her ward by the hair of the head.
An object used for guarding.
To keep in safety, to watch over, to guard.
- Whoſe gates he found faſt ſhut, ne liuing wight To ward the ſame, nor anſwere commers call
To defend, to protect.
- Tell him it was a hand that warded him From a thousand dangers.
- they went to ſeeke their owne death, and ruſhed amidſt the thickeſt of their enemies, with an intention, rather to ſtrike, than to ward themſelves.
To fend off, to repel, to turn aside, as anything mischievous that approaches. (usually…
To fend off, to repel, to turn aside, as anything mischievous that approaches. (usually followed by off)
- Draw forth thy ſword, thou mightie man at armes, Intending but to raiſe my charmed ſkin: And Ioue himſelfe will ſtretch his hand from heauen, To ward the blow, and ſhield me ſafe from harme, […]
- Now wards a felling blow, now strikes again.
- The pointed javelin warded off his rage.
To be vigilant
To be vigilant; to keep guard.
- They for vs fight, they watch and dewly ward, And their bright Squadrons round about vs plant […]
To act on the defensive with a weapon.
An English surname originating as an occupation for a guard or watchman.
An English male given name.
A placename
Clipping of Edward (a corruption of the name Edward).
Clipping of Howard.
The neighborhood
Derived
bridge-ward, casual ward, crown ward, Glen Ward, hoard-ward, Lower Ninth Ward, march-ward, maternity ward, Nightingale ward, psych ward, special ward, ward heeler, wardmote, ward moot, wardmoot, ward round, ward teaching, watch and ward, beward, Romano-Ward syndrome, Ward Beach, Ward County, Wardian, Wardian case, Ward River, Wards Mistake, Ward's pill, Wards River, Ward Township
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at ward. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at ward. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
7 hops · closes at ward
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA