ward
noun
[ wɔːd ]
• a separate room in a hospital, typically one allocated to a particular type of patient.
• "a children's ward"
• an administrative division of a city or borough that typically elects and is represented by a councillor or councillors.
• "the second most marginal ward in Westminster"
• a child or young person under the care and control of a guardian appointed by their parents or a court.
• "for the last three years, the boy has been my ward"
• any of the internal ridges or bars in a lock which prevent the turning of any key which does not have grooves of corresponding form or size.
• the action of keeping a lookout for danger.
• "I saw them keeping ward at one of those huge gates"
• an area of ground enclosed by the encircling walls of a fortress or castle.
ward
verb
• admit to or care for in a hospital ward.
• "the last of the accident victims was warded"
• guard; protect.
• "it was his duty to ward the king"
Origin:
Old English weard (in ward (sense 5 of the noun), also ‘body of guards’), weardian ‘keep safe, guard’, of Germanic origin; reinforced in Middle English by Old Northern French warde (noun), warder (verb) ‘guard’.
-ward
suffix
• (forming adverbs) towards the specified place or direction.
• "eastwards"
• (forming adjectives) turned or tending towards.
• "onward"
Origin:
Old English -weard, from a Germanic base meaning ‘turn’.
