guardian English · revision 6681

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=early 14th century|origins=frk}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɡɑː.dɪ.ən/ ''(UK)''; /ˈɡɑɹ.di.ən/, /ˈɡɑɹ.din/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English garden, gardein, [[bor|xno|gardein]], [[m|fro|gardien|alt=garden, gardenc|t=keeper, custodian]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) from Frankish *warding-, from the Germanic source of [[guard]] (compare [[ward]] and [[warden]]).^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) The ending was later changed to [[-ian]].^(NODE 1998)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ One who guards: the early 14th century in Etymonline as garden, the early 15th century as gardein;^(Etymonline) the OED has the ''Guardian of the Peace'', an earlier name for a justice of the peace, from 1330.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ One who guards, protects or preserves is from about 1477 in the OED.^(OED 1989) The legal sense, a person entitled to the custody of a minor or someone unable to manage his affairs, is from 1513, the 1510s in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) In various official titles warden later prevailed (1495).^(OED 1989) The ''guardian angel'' is from the 1630s.^(Etymonline) In a Franciscan friary the superior is called the guardian.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1330 – Guardian of the Peace.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1477 – a protector.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1513 – a legal guardian.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1630s – guardian angel.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person or thing that guards, protects or watches over something.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(law)'' A person legally responsible for the care of a [[minor]] or of someone unable to manage their own affairs.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The superior of a [[Franciscan]] friary.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[guardianship]]

+ * [[guardianless]]

+ * [[guard]]

+ * [[underguardian]]

+ * [[guardian ad litem]]

+ * [[guardian angel]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ward]]

+ * [[warden]]

+ * [[regard]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}