Etymologically
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garde

Etymology and origin of the French word garde

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Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis (guarde)
Borrowed from
Frankish *warda
Ultimate origin
Frankish (*warda)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɡaʁd/[1]

Forms

garde m or f by sense (plural gardes)[1] Old French guarde (about 1050), garde (about 1155); Picard warde.[2][3][4]

Etymology

The TLFi takes it as probably borrowed from Frankish *warda (“watch, guard”) rather than a deverbal noun from garder; it compares Old High German warta (“watching; lookout post”), and Late Latin “warda” is found from the 7th century for watch service and garrison.[5] The Grand Robert, the GLLF and Wiktionary take it as a deverbal noun from “garder”, which goes back to Frankish *wardōn (“to watch, guard”); the Petit Robert allows a Frankish “warda”.[3][2][1][6][7]

Compare Italian guardia, Old Occitan guarda, Spanish guarda and Portuguese guarda.[4][8] English ward is a cognate, and English guard was borrowed from French.[1][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) guarde is the act of keeping with care, watching or protecting; in the Chanson de Roland it is watchfulness: il nous i convient garde.[5][2][4]

Semantic evolution

The person who guards is found from the end of the 10th century.[3] A body of soldiers on watch is recorded in 1384, and the guard of a sovereign in Robert Estienne (1539); monter la garde is in Furetière (1690).[5][2] In Old French n'avoir garde meant to have no fear (Joinville).[4] The protecting part of a lock is a garde in the 13th century, the hilt of a sword (gardes) in the 15th, and the endpaper of a book in 1743.[5] In fencing the guard position appears in Molière (1671), and in boxing in 1908.[5][10]

Masculine compounds name many keepers: the garde champêtre (1790), the garde forestier and the garde des Sceaux, une garde is also short for garde-malade, a nurse (18th century).[6][5][3] The garde à vue, police custody, is dated about 1960.[2]

Timeline

  • Late 10th century – A person who guards.[3]
  • c. 1050 – Guarde, the act of keeping, Vie de saint Alexis.[5]
  • c. 1100 – Watchfulness, Chanson de Roland.[5]
  • Mid-13th century – Part of a lock.[5]
  • 1384 – A body of soldiers on watch.[5]
  • Mid-15th century – The hilt of a sword.[5]
  • 1539 – A sovereign's guard.[5]
  • 1671 – Guard in fencing, Molière.[5]
  • 1790 – Garde champêtre.[6]
  • c. 1960 – Garde à vue.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (feminine) Keeping, custody, care: la garde des enfants, mettre sous bonne garde, chien de garde, de garde, on duty: médecin de garde.[5][6][11]
  2. (feminine) Watch, guard duty: monter la garde, garde à vue, police custody.[2][1]
  3. (feminine) A body of soldiers, a guard: la garde républicaine, la vieille garde.[1][5]
  4. (feminine) Prendre garde, to beware, mettre en garde, to warn, être sur ses gardes.[1][6]
  5. (feminine) A guard position in fencing or boxing: baisser la garde.[5][1]
  6. (feminine) The hilt of a sword, page de garde, an endpaper.[5][1]
  7. (masculine) A guard, keeper, warden: garde forestier, garde champêtre, garde du corps, garde des Sceaux.[6][12]
  8. (feminine) A nurse who looks after the sick.[3][5]

Word family

  • avant-garde
  • arrière-garde
  • sauvegarde
  • garde-chasse
  • garde-malade
  • corps de garde

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  6. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 17, 510a
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  10. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  12. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Garde.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/garde. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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