Ward Definition

wôrd
warded, warding, wards
noun
wards
A room in a hospital usually holding six or more patients.
American Heritage Medicine
Guardianship, as of a person of unsound mind or a child.
Webster's New World
A district of some English and Scottish counties corresponding roughly to the hundred or the wapentake.
American Heritage
The condition of being under the control of a guardian; wardship.
Webster's New World
A room or division of a hospital set apart for a specific class or group of patients.
A maternity ward.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
pronoun
Wiktionary
verb
warded, warding, wards
To turn aside; fend off; parry.
Webster's New World
To keep watch over; guard; protect.
Webster's New World

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

Wiktionary
suffix
In a specified direction in time or space.
Downward.
American Heritage
Toward a specified place or position.
Skyward.
American Heritage
Occurring or situated in a specified direction.
Leftward.
American Heritage
Having a direction toward a specified place or position.
Landward.
American Heritage
affix
In a (specified) direction.
Inward.
Webster's New World
In a (specified) direction.
Downward.
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Ward

Noun

Singular:
ward
Plural:
-wards

Origin of Ward

  • From Middle English ward, warde, from Old English weard (“watching, ward, protection, guardianship; advance post; waiting for, lurking, ambuscade"), from Proto-Germanic *wardō (“protection, attention, keeping"), an extension of Germanic 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.

    From Wiktionary

  • From Middle English ward, 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 German Wart.

    From Wiktionary

  • From Middle English warden, from Old English weardian (“to watch, guard, keep, protect, preserve; hold, possess, occupy, inhabit; rule, govern"), from Proto-Germanic *wardōnÄ… (“to guard"), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to heed, defend").

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English action of guarding from Old English weard a watching, protection wer-3 in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English from Old English -weard wer-2 in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • ME -werd < OE -weard < base of weorthan, to become: see worth

    From Webster's New World College Dictionary, 5th Edition

  • Germanic, cognate with a/to ward, warden, guard etc.

    From Wiktionary

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