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.
Meanings
(archaic, obsolete) A warden; a guard; a guardian or watchman.
For want of other ward,
He lifted up his hand, his front to guard. 1717, John Dryden [et al.], “(please specify |book=I to XV)”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
no gate they found, them to withhold,
Nor ward to wait at morne and euening late […]. 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
there is remuneration for the best ward of mine c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
th'aſſieged Caſtles ward
Their ſtedfaſt ſtonds did mightily maintaine 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 15:
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.
Meanings
(countable, uncountable) Protection, defence. ▸ The action of a watchman; monitoring, surveillance (usually in phrases keep ward etc.)
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[…] 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
(countable, uncountable) Protection, defence. ▸ Guardianship, especially of a child or prisoner.
So forth the presoners were brought before Arthure, and he commaunded hem into kepyng of the conestabyls warde, surely to be kepte as noble presoners. 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur, Book V:
It is also inconvenient, in Ireland, that the wards and marriages of gentlemen's children should be in the disposal of any of those lords. 1596 (date written; published 1633), Edmund Spenser, A Vewe of the Present State of Irelande […], Dublin: […] Societie of Stationers, […], →OCLC; republished as A View of the State of Ireland […] (Ancient Irish Histories), Dublin: […] Society of Stationers, […] Hibernia Press, […] [b]y John Morrison, 1809, →OCLC:
I must attend his majesty's command, to whom I am now in ward. c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
(countable, uncountable) 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.
(countable, uncountable) Protection, defence. ▸ A guarding or defensive motion or position.
Thou knowest my old ward; here I lay, and thus I bore my point. c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:
(countable, historical, qualifier:Scots law, uncountable) Protection, defence. ▸ Land tenure through military service.
(countable, uncountable) A protected place, and by extension, a type of subdivision. ▸ An area of a castle, corresponding to a circuit of the walls.
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. 2000 August 8, George R[aymond] R[ichard] Martin, “Sansa [Stark]”, in A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire; 3), London: Voyager, →ISBN, page 63:
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[…]. 1942, Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Canongate, published 2006, page 149:
(countable, uncountable) A protected place, and by extension, a type of subdivision. ▸ A section or subdivision of a prison.
(countable, uncountable) A protected place, and by extension, a type of subdivision. ▸ An administrative division of a borough, city or council.
I would rather have had that slow, conscientious vote of P.’s alone, than to have been chosen Alderman of the Ward ! 1854, Lowell, Camb. 30 Yrs. Ago, in Pr. Wks., volume I, published 1890, page 94:
Throughout the trembling city placed a guard,
Dealing an equal share to every ward. 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Eighth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:
The sayde Iohn Mansell chargyd the mayre, that euery Alderman in hys warde shulde vppon the morowe folowyng assemble hys wardemote, [etc.]. a. 1513, Fabyan, Chron., published 1533, § vii, page 28b:
In ev’ry Street a City-bard Rules, like an Alderman his Ward. 1733, Swift, On Poetry, page 286:
There is also The Wardmote Enquest, Chosen euery St. Thomas day, in euery ward a quest. 1588, W. Smith, Brief Descr. Lond. (MS. Harl. 6363), leaf 13:
Rome…is divided into 14 Regions or Wards. a. 1700, Evelyn, Diary, 6 May 1645:
On our last visit to Tokyo, we went to Chiyoda ward and visited the Emperor’s palace.
The Auncient diuision of this Cittie, was into Wardes or Aldermanries: and therefore I will beginne at the East, and so proceede thorough the high and most principall streete of the cittie to the west after this manner. 1598–1603, John Stow, edited by Charles Lethbridge Kingsford, A Survey of London […] : Reprinted from the text of 1603, volume I, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, published 1908, page 117:
London should have as many Artillery Gardens, as it hath Wards. 1631, Gouge, God’s Arrows, v. xix. 432:
Large boroughs are divided into wards, which elect their councillors severally. 1863, Cox, Instit., iii. ix. 730:
They do you wrong to put you so oft vpon ’t [sc. the office of constable]. Are there not men in your Ward sufficient to serue it? 1603, William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, act II, scene i, line 281:
There are four wards here, in each of which are a constable, and two church-wardens. 1751, “St. Albans”, in Engl. Gazetteer, volume I:
[…] within v wardes of the same Towne which byn conteyned in seuerall partes in the same Towne ther hath byn v Cunstables that is to say in euery ward oon for the conseruacion of the kynges Peace and other good Rule […] 1518, “Abbot of Peterborough v. Power and others”, in Isaac Saunders Leadam, editor, Select Cases before the King’s Council in the Star Chamber, commonly called The Court of Star Chamber (Selden Society), volume II: A.D. 1509–1544, London: Bernard Quaritch, published 1911, page 127:
We meete at the Guildehall and there determine That thorow euery warde the watche be clad In armour. c. 1590, Anthony Munday, Henry Chettle, edited by Thomas Heywood, Thomas Dekker, and William Shakespeare, Sir Thomas More, Act II, scene iv, line 226:
In the Ward [It. regione] of the Temple of Peace, stood a Colossus. 1715, Leoni, Palladio’s Archit., volume II, published 1742, page 72:
By an act of Parliament, in 1800, for regulating the police of Glasgow, that city was divided into wards. 1824, G. Chalmers, Caledonia, volume III, chapter vi, page 569:
(UK, countable, uncountable) A protected place, and by extension, a type of subdivision. ▸ A division of a forest.
(Mormonism, countable, uncountable) 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.
(countable, uncountable) A protected place, and by extension, a type of subdivision. ▸ A part of a hospital, with beds, where patients reside.
Many hospitals have not taken simple steps to lessen the distress and confusion which dementia sufferers' often feel on being somewhere so unfamiliar – such as making signs large and easy to read, using colour schemes to help patients find their way around unfamiliar wards and not putting family mementoes such as photographs nearby. 2011 December 16, Denis Campbell, “Hospital staff 'lack skills to cope with dementia patients'”, in Guardian:
Since sick people were apt to be present, he could not always depend on a lively young crowd in the same ward with him, and the entertainment was not always good. 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 168:
(countable, uncountable) A person under guardianship. ▸ A minor looked after by a guardian.
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. 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
After the trial, little Robert was declared a ward of the state.
(countable, obsolete, uncountable) A person under guardianship. ▸ An underage orphan.
(countable, uncountable) An object used for guarding.
(countable, uncountable) An object used for guarding. ▸ The ridges on the inside of a lock, or the incisions on a key.
A man muſt thorowly ſound himſelfe, and dive into his heart, and there ſee by what wards or ſprings the motions ſtirre. , II.1
1852–1854, Charles Tomlinson, Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts and Manufactures
The lock is made […] more secure by attaching wards to the front, as well as to the back, plate of the lock, in which case the key must be furnished with corresponding notches.
With the help of a wire, however, they forced round the key. Even without the lens you will perceive, by the scratches on this ward, where the pressure was applied. 1893, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Resident Patient, Norton, published 2005, page 628:
es guarda (on a lock or key) · id bangsal (part of a hospital where patients reside) · cs okrsek (administrative subdivision of cities) · sh štićenik (person under guardianship) · sh odjel (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · pl wychowanek (person under guardianship) · fi osasto (section of a prison) · fr cour (area of a castle) · bg отделе́ние (part of a hospital where patients reside) · be пала́та (part of a hospital where patients reside) · ota دیش (on a lock or key) · nl celblok (section of a prison) · pt tutelado (person under guardianship) · pt enfermaria (part of a hospital where patients reside) · sh štićenica (person under guardianship) · km សង្កាត់ (administrative subdivision of cities) · sga daltae (action of a watchman) · nl curandus (person under guardianship) · tr himaye (action of a watchman) · sw wodi (administrative subdivision of cities) · tr mahalle (administrative subdivision of cities) · tr semt (administrative subdivision of cities) · fr pupille (person under guardianship) · mk рео́н (administrative subdivision of cities) · de Mündel (person under guardianship) · sw wodi (part of a hospital where patients reside) · km ខាង (administrative subdivision of cities) · sv församling (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · eo kvartalo (administrative subdivision of cities) · pt guarda (on a lock or key) · ru подопе́чная (person under guardianship) · bg подопечен (person under guardianship) · pl okręg (administrative subdivision of cities) · tr koğuş (part of a hospital where patients reside) · bg отделение (section of a prison) · hu városrész (administrative subdivision of cities) · es pupilo (person under guardianship) · ru подопе́чный (person under guardianship) · tr hücre (section of a prison) · uk пала́та (part of a hospital where patients reside) · it guardiano (action of a watchman) · nl wijk (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · af wyk (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · pl okręg (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · fi osasto (part of a hospital where patients reside) · nb valgkrets (administrative subdivision of cities) · ja 被後見人 (person under guardianship) · ru о́круг (administrative subdivision of cities) · pl podopieczny (person under guardianship) · vi trẻ tạm nuôi (person under guardianship) · fr pavillon (part of a hospital where patients reside) · et osakond (part of a hospital where patients reside) · is deild (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · it reparto (part of a hospital where patients reside) · pt ala (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · cmn 區 /区 (administrative subdivision of cities) · de Gemeinde (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · cmn 病室 (part of a hospital where patients reside) · es guardia (action of a watchman) · de Pflegling (person under guardianship) · bg райо́н (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · hu kerület (administrative subdivision of cities) · tr koruma (action of a watchman) · ar جَنَاح (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · pl oddział (part of a hospital where patients reside) · ru ка́мера (section of a prison) · no menighet (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · el τμήμα (part of a hospital where patients reside) · eo vartito (person under guardianship) · id paviliun (part of a hospital where patients reside) · mk одделение (part of a hospital where patients reside) · cs sbor (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · de Aussparung (on a lock or key) · ja 区 (administrative subdivision of cities) · es entenado (person under guardianship) · hu betegszoba (part of a hospital where patients reside) · nl district (administrative subdivision of cities) · hy պալատ (part of a hospital where patients reside) · sk zbor (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · pl dzielnica (administrative subdivision of cities) · ga barda (part of a hospital where patients reside) · mk оддел (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · lt skyrius (part of a hospital where patients reside) · mww pawg ntseeg (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · ga coimircí (person under guardianship) · ga barda (administrative subdivision of cities) · ne वडा (administrative subdivision of cities) · mi rūma mātūtū (part of a hospital where patients reside) · nl binnenplein (area of a castle) · nl blok van een gevangenis (section of a prison) · ar جَنَاح (part of a hospital where patients reside) · sw wadi (part of a hospital where patients reside) · la pūpilla (person under guardianship) · la pūpillus (person under guardianship) · fr arrondissement (administrative subdivision of cities) · vi phòng (part of a hospital where patients reside) · lv nodaļa (part of a hospital where patients reside) · ht pawas (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · hi वार्ड (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · tr avlu (area of a castle) · tr vesayet (action of a watchman) · fr garde (fencing term) · ru прихо́д (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · bg стра́жа (action of a watchman) · cs oddělení (part of a hospital where patients reside) · sh bolesnička soba (part of a hospital where patients reside) · sl oddelek (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · cmn 病房 (part of a hospital where patients reside) · gv ward (part of a hospital where patients reside) · mi mātūtū (part of a hospital where patients reside) · tr vasi edinilen (person under guardianship) · gv doltey (action of a watchman) · nl inkeping in sleutelbaard (on a lock or key) · mi mataporenga (person under guardianship) · ko 와드 (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · mk штитеник (person under guardianship) · cs svěřenec (person under guardianship) · de Station (part of a hospital where patients reside) · ko 병동 (part of a hospital where patients reside) · nl bewaking (action of a watchman) · vi phường (administrative subdivision of cities) · bg гард (fencing term) · ga barda ospidéil (part of a hospital where patients reside) · ms wad (part of a hospital where patients reside) · el τομέας (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · sl oddelek (part of a hospital where patients reside) · vi khu (part of a hospital where patients reside) · fi vuodeosasto (part of a hospital where patients reside) · es pabellón (part of a hospital where patients reside) · fr paroisse (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · nl afdeling (part of a hospital where patients reside) · hu egyházközség (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · mk стража (action of a watchman) · mi wāri (administrative subdivision of cities) · pt pavilhão (section of a prison) · nl pupil (person under guardianship) · nl gebied (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · ota قوغوش (section of a prison) · de Wache (action of a watchman) · ru райо́н (administrative subdivision of cities) · fi kaupunginosa (administrative subdivision of cities) · ja 病室 病棟 (part of a hospital where patients reside) · de Einschnitt (on a lock or key) · da menighed (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · ko 병실 (part of a hospital where patients reside) · mk одделение (section of a prison) · fa-ira بَخْش (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · grc ἄμφοδον (administrative subdivision of cities) · uk прихо́д (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · ga barda cathrach (administrative subdivision of cities) · tr bölge (administrative subdivision of cities) · tr gard almak (fencing term) · nl pareren (fencing term) · fi potilashuone (part of a hospital where patients reside) · es barrio (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · de Stadtbezirk (administrative subdivision of cities) · fi haitta (on a lock or key) · vi phòng (section of a prison) · fi vartio (action of a watchman) · sv vårdavdelning (part of a hospital where patients reside) · ka პალატა (part of a hospital where patients reside) · fi holhokki (person under guardianship) · ru большо́й прихо́д (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · hif ward (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · nl paviljoen (part of a hospital where patients reside) · uk під опі́кою (person under guardianship) · pap bario (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · fi vahti (action of a watchman) · id sal (part of a hospital where patients reside) · fr garde (action of a watchman) · fr unité (part of a hospital where patients reside) · es sala (part of a hospital where patients reside) · fr garde (on a lock or key) · ko 구 (administrative subdivision of cities) · fi holhottava (person under guardianship) · nl binnenhof (area of a castle) · pt freguesia (administrative subdivision of cities) · tr musi (person under guardianship) · ja ワード (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · tr mahcur (person under guardianship) · ota قوغوش (part of a hospital where patients reside) · mk гард (fencing term) · it rione (Mormonism: subdivision of church) · tr mehcur (person under guardianship) · hu osztály (part of a hospital where patients reside) · fi potilassali (part of a hospital where patients reside) · ru пала́та (part of a hospital where patients reside) · pt guarda (action of a watchman) · bg райо́н (administrative subdivision of cities) · sk oddelenie (part of a hospital where patients reside) · fr quartier (section of a prison) · nl binnenplaats (area of a castle) · tr koğuş (section of a prison) · ga aireagal (part of a hospital where patients reside)
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.
Meanings
(transitive) 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 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 3:
(transitive) To defend, to protect.
Tell him it was a hand that warded him
From a thousand dangers. c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
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. 1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, Essays, II.3:
(transitive) To fend off, to repel, to turn aside, as anything mischievous that approaches. (usually followed by off)
It instructs the scholar in the various methods of warding off the force of objections. 1741, I[saac] Watts, The Improvement of the Mind: Or, A Supplement to the Art of Logick: […], London: […] James Brackstone, […], →OCLC:
The pointed javelin warded off his rage. 1717, Joseph Addison, Metamorphoses:
Now wards a felling blow, now strikes again. 1609, Samuel Daniel, The Civile Wares:
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, […] c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
(intransitive) To be vigilant; to keep guard.
Having slapped into middle age, where thoughts of one’s general infallibility are tempered by the realisation that those creaky, achy complaints are signs of certain decrepitude, I have decided to ward against further gravitational decline by hauling my saggy, sorry self to the gym. 2017 November 16, Jo Ellison, “Help: the gym has turned us into slobs”, in Financial Times:
They for vs fight, they watch and dewly ward,
And their bright Squadrons round about vs plant […] 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
(intransitive) To act on the defensive with a weapon.
vi bảo vệ (To defend; to protect) · mk чува (To keep in safety; to watch; to guard) · fi olla vahdissa (To be vigilant; to keep guard) · ru быть начеку (To be vigilant; to keep guard) · nl verdedigen (To act on the defensive with a weapon) · fi olla vartiossa (To be vigilant; to keep guard) · bg нащрек съм (To be vigilant; to keep guard) · pt guardar (To keep in safety; to watch; to guard) · fi suojella (To keep in safety; to watch; to guard) · nl bewaken (To keep in safety; to watch; to guard) · vi ngăn ngừa (To fend off; to repel; to turn aside) · bg защитавам (To defend; to protect) · mk варди (To keep in safety; to watch; to guard) · es proteger (To defend; to protect) · pt proteger (To fend off; to repel; to turn aside) · bg отблъсквам (To fend off; to repel; to turn aside) · bg охранявам (To keep in safety; to watch; to guard) · nl afweren (To fend off; to repel; to turn aside) · bg пазя (To defend; to protect) · es guardar (To defend; to protect) · es guardar (To keep in safety; to watch; to guard) · ru сторожить (To keep in safety; to watch; to guard) · ru отража́ть (To fend off; to repel; to turn aside) · pt proteger (To defend; to protect) · vi gạt (To fend off; to repel; to turn aside) · fi pitää vahtia (To be vigilant; to keep guard) · nl verdedigen (To defend; to protect) · ru охраня́ть (To keep in safety; to watch; to guard) · vi tránh (To fend off; to repel; to turn aside) · vi trông nôm (To keep in safety; to watch; to guard) · ru защища́ть (To defend; to protect) · pt guardar (To defend; to protect) · bg предотвратявам (To fend off; to repel; to turn aside) · bg защитавам се (To act on the defensive with a weapon) · vi phòng (To fend off; to repel; to turn aside) · fi suojella (To defend; to protect) · fi suojella (To fend off; to repel; to turn aside) · la arceō (To fend off; to repel; to turn aside) · pt defender (To fend off; to repel; to turn aside) · fi pitää vartiota (To be vigilant; to keep guard) · vi đỡ (To fend off; to repel; to turn aside)