Etymograph

English

guardant

Guardant comes from Old French guarder ‘to watch’, and goes back to Early Medieval Latin wardāre.

  1. Early Medieval Latinmodernwardāre1
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400guarder2‘to watch’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400guardant2present participle of guarder
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1591guardant2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old French guarder
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English guardant
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Sixt: “But when my angry guardant stood alone, Tendering my…”.

Lineage

  1. Early Medieval LatinmodernwardāreWiktionary, Old French guarder
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400guarderWiktionary, English guardant‘to watch’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400guardantWiktionary, English guardantpresent participle of guarder
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1591guardantWiktionary, English guardant. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Sixt: “But when my angry guardant stood alone, Tendering my…”

Linked words

through Old French guarder ‘to watch’

regard, warden, 1 more

Today it means

adj Positioned with the body viewed from the side, but with the head turned toward the viewer.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “guardant”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old French guarder. 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 / Early Medieval Latin wardāre / guardant

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