Etymograph

English

guard

Guard comes from Old French guarde, from guarder ‘to protect’, from Early Medieval Latin wardō, from Frankish *wardēn, from Proto-Germanic *wardāną ‘to guard’.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wardāną1‘to guard, protect’reconstructed
  2. Frankishc. 250–700*wardēn1reconstructed
  3. Early Medieval Latinmodernwardō1
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400guarder1‘to protect, guard’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400guarde1‘protection; guard’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500garde1‘guardianship’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1897guard1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English guard
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1897, Winston Churchill: “Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wardānąWiktionary, English guard‘to guard, protect’reconstructed
  2. Frankishc. 250–700*wardēnWiktionary, English guardreconstructed
  3. Early Medieval LatinmodernwardōWiktionary, English guard
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400guarderWiktionary, English guard‘to protect, guard’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400guardeWiktionary, English guard‘protection; guard’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gardeWiktionary, English guard‘guardianship’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1897guardWiktionary, English guard. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1897, Winston Churchill: “Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for…”

Linked words

through Old French guarder ‘to protect’

regard, warden, 1 more

Another origin of guard

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wer-‘to burn’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wor-túsreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*warduz‘North Germanic form of *wardaz (“guard”)’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wardō‘protection, care’reconstructed
  5. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wardāną‘to guard, protect’reconstructed
  6. Frankishc. 250–700*wardēnreconstructed
  7. Early Medieval Latinmodernwardo
  8. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600guarder‘to keep, ward, guard, save, preserve, etc’uncertain
  9. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600garder‘to protect, guard’uncertain
  10. Englishtodayguard

Today it means

noun A person who, or thing that, protects or watches over something.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “guard”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *wardāną / guard

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