• (RP) IPA: /wɔːd/
• (America) IPA: /wɔɹd/

From Middle English ward, from Old English weard, from Proto-Germanic *warduz, from Proto-Indo-European *wer-.

ward (plural wards)

1. (archaic or obsolete) A warden; a guard; a guardian or watchman.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC ↗:

     no gate they found, them to withhold,
     Nor ward to wait at morne and euening late […] .

From Middle English ward, warde, from Old English weard, from Proto-West Germanic *wardu, from Proto-Germanic *wardō, an extension of the stem *wara- (English wary, beware), from Proto-Indo-European *wer-.

Cognate with German Warte, warten; English guard is a parallel form which came via Old French.

ward

1. Protection, defence.
   1. The action of a watchman; monitoring, surveillance (usually in phrases keep ward etc.)
      • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC ↗:

        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 […]

   2. Guardianship, especially of a child or prisoner.
      • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur, Book V:

        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.

      • 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]:

        I must attend his majesty's command, to whom I am now in ward.

      • 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 ↗:

        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.

   3. (fantasy) 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.
   4. (fencing) A guarding or defensive motion or position.
      • 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]:

        Thou knowest my old ward; here I lay, and thus I bore my point.

   5. (historical, Scots law) Land tenure through military service.
   6. (obsolete) A guard or watchman; now replaced by warden.
      • 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]:

        there is remuneration for the best ward of mine

      • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC ↗, stanza 15:

        th'aſſieged Caſtles ward
        Their ſtedfaſt ſtonds did mightily maintaine

      • 1717, John Dryden [et al.], “(please specify |book=I to XV)”, in Ovid's Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC ↗:

        For want of other ward,
        He lifted up his hand, his front to guard.

2. A protected place, and by extension, a type of subdivision.
   1. An area of a castle, corresponding to a circuit of the walls.
      • 2000, George R.R. Martin, A Storm of Swords, Bantam, published 2011, page 78:

        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.

   2. A section or subdivision of a prison.
   3. 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.

      • 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: Printed for Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC ↗:

        Throughout the trembling city placed a guard,
        Dealing an equal share to every ward.

   4. (UK) A division of a forest.
   5. (Mormonism) A subdivision of the LDS Church, smaller than and part of a stake, but larger than a branch.
   6. A part of a hospital, with beds, where patients reside.
      • 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC ↗, page 168 ↗:

        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.

3. A person under guardianship.
   1. A minor looked after by a guardian.

      After the trial, little Robert was declared a ward of the state.

      • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC ↗:

        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.

   2. (obsolete) An underage orphan.
4. An object used for guarding.
   1. The ridges on the inside of a lock, or the incisions on a key.
      • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, The Essayes […], London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC ↗:
        , II.1:

        A man muſt thorowly ſound himſelfe, and dive into his heart, and there ſee by what wards or ſprings the motions ſtirre.

      • 1852–1854, Charles Tomlinson (scientist), 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.

• French: garde
• German: Wache
• Italian: guardiano
• Portuguese: guarda
• Spanish: guardia

• French: pupille
• German: Mündel, Pflegling
• Portuguese: tutelado
• Russian: подопе́чный
• Spanish: entenado

• French: garde

• French: cour

• French: quartier
• Portuguese: pavilhão

• French: arrondissement
• German: Stadtbezirk
• Portuguese: freguesia
• Russian: райо́н

• French: paroisse
• German: Gemeinde
• Italian: rione
• Portuguese: ala
• Russian: большой приход
• Spanish: barrio

• French: unité, pavillon
• German: Station
• Italian: reparto
• Portuguese: enfermaria
• Russian: пала́та
• Spanish: sala, pavellón

• French: pupille
• German: Mündel
• Portuguese: tutelado
• Spanish: pupilo

• French: garde
• German: Einschnitt (of key), Aussparung (of lock)
• Portuguese: guarda
• Spanish: guarda

From Middle English warden, from Old English weardian, from Proto-West Germanic *wardēn, from Proto-Germanic *wardōną, *wardāną ("to guard"), from Proto-Indo-European *wer-.

ward (wards, present participle warding; simple past and past participle warded)

1. (transitive) To keep in safety, to watch over, to guard.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC ↗, stanza 3:

     Whoſe gates he found faſt ſhut, ne liuing wight
     To ward the ſame, nor anſwere commers call

2. (transitive) To defend, to protect.
   • 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]:

     Tell him it was a hand that warded him
     From a thousand dangers.

   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, Essays, II.3:

     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.

3. (transitive) To fend off, to repel, to turn aside, as anything mischievous that approaches. (usually followed by off)
   • c. 1587–1588, [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 ↗:

     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, […]

   • 1609, Samuel Daniel, The Civile Wares:

     Now wards a felling blow, now strikes again.

   • 1717, Joseph Addison, Metamorphoses:

     The pointed javelin warded off his rage.

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4. (intransitive) To be vigilant; to keep guard.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC ↗:

     They for vs fight, they watch and dewly ward,
     And their bright Squadrons round about vs plant […]

5. (intransitive) To act on the defensive with a weapon.

• (to fend off) ward off

• Portuguese: guardar
• Russian: охраня́ть
• Spanish: guardar

• Portuguese: guardar, proteger
• Russian: защища́ть
• Spanish: guardar, proteger

• Portuguese: proteger, defender
• Russian: отража́ть

• Russian: быть начеку

• As an English surname, from the noun ward and related cognates such as warden, guard etc.
• As an Irish - surname, reduced from McWard, from mac an bard.
• As a Jewish surname, adapted from Warshawski, named after Warsaw.
• As a French - surname, Americanized from Guerin.

1. (countable) Surname for a guard or watchman.
2. (countable) A male given name
3. A placename
   1. A parish in Castleknock, Fingal
   2. Ellipsis of Ward River; A river in Ireland
   3. A small town in Marlborough, South Island.
   4. Ellipsis of Ward Beach; A coastline in Marlborough, South Island
   5. A locale in USA:
      1. An ucomm in Sumter County, Alabama.
      2. A city in Lonoke County, Arkansas.
      3. A town in Boulder County, Colorado.
      4. An ucomm in Jackson, Boone County.
      5. A twp in Todd County, Minnesota.
      6. A town in Allegany County, New York.
      7. A twp in Hocking County, Ohio.
      8. A twp in Tioga County, Pennsylvania.
      9. A town in Saluda County, South Carolina.
      10. A town in Moody County, South Dakota.
      11. An ucomm in Stevens County, Washington.
      12. An ucomm and coal town in Kanawha County.
      13. Ellipsis of Ward County

Shortened form

1. Clipping of Edward; A corruption of the name Edward
2. Clipping of Howard