Etymologically
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guard

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 19:56. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ɡɑːd/, US /ɡɑːrd/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English garde,[2][3] borrowed from Middle French garde (“guardian, keeper; custody”),[4][2] from garder (“to keep, protect”) or guarder,[4][2] from Frankish *wardōn,[4][2][5] from Proto-Germanic *wardōną (“to guard”),[4] from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to perceive, watch out for”).[4] The Franks brought the word into Romance, where the w- became g(u)-;[6] Italian guardare and Spanish guardar also come from it.[4] It is a doublet of ward, and related to warden, guardian and wardrobe.[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Keeping, custody: 1426 in the OED,[7] about 1400 in Barnhart, as care or protection, with an earlier surname Legard (1275).[2] Etymonline dates it to the early 15th century, also as one who keeps watch and a body of soldiers.[4]

Semantic evolution

A protector or defender is from the 15th century, and a body of defenders and “protection, defence” from the 16th.[5] The verb, to protect, is from 1448 in Barnhart[2] or about 1500 in Merriam-Webster.[3] A posture of defence in fencing and boxing is from the 1590s,[4][7] hence on guard (1640s) and off one's guard (1680s);[4] the OED dates on one's guard to 1577 and off one's guard to 1682.[7] A guard as a welt or border of a garment, and the verb “to trim with braid or lace”, from 1500, appear in Holland's and North's Plutarch,[8][7] and Trench took them as a special use of the same word.[8] A guard in cricket is from 1843,[7] and in American football from 1889.[4] The guard-rail is from 1860, first on railway tracks.[4]

Timeline

  • 1426 – custody.[7]
  • 1448 – verb, to protect.[2]
  • c. 1500 – to trim a garment.[7]
  • 1577 – on one's guard.[7]
  • 1590s – a defensive posture.[4]
  • 1682 – off one's guard.[7]
  • 1843 – in cricket.[7]
  • 1860 – guard-rail.[4]
  • 1889 – in football.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person or group that protects or watches over; a sentry.
  2. A body of soldiers, as one attending a sovereign.
  3. Protection; a state of watchfulness: on guard.
  4. A device that prevents injury or damage.
  5. A defensive posture in fencing or boxing.
  6. A player in certain positions in basketball or American football.
  7. (British) The official in charge of a train.

Verb

  1. To protect from harm by watching over.
  2. To watch over so as to prevent escape.
  3. To keep an opponent from scoring.
  4. To take precautions: to guard against error.

Word family

  • guarder
  • guardable
  • guardless
  • guardlike
  • unguard
  • guardee
  • ward
  • warden
  • guardian
  • wardrobe
  • regard
  • guarantee
  • beware

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker