See Also: ward(3)(dictionary)
Ward, O(medicine)
ward(2)(dictionary)
ward(medicine)
ward(dictionary)
Halstead, Ward(medicine)
Ward (as used in expressions)(encyclopedia)
ward 1, noun(dictionary)
ward 2, verb(dictionary)
RAVISHMENT OF WARD, Eng(law)

ward(2) (iou)



ward noun.
[Old English weard = Middle Low German warde, Old High German warta watch (German Warte watch-tower), Old Norse varea, varei cairn, from Germanic extension of stem of verb meaning 'be on guard' (cf. WARE verb1); reinforced in Middle English by Old Northern French warde = Old & mod. French garde GUARD noun.]
I. Protection, defence, control.
The function of a watchman, sentinel, etc.; the action of keeping a lookout for danger; observation, surveillance. Freq. in hold ward, keep ward. Now rare. OE.
a. gen. Guardianship, control. Now rare. ME.
b. spec. Guardianship of a child, minor, etc.; the condition of being subject to a guardian. ME.
c. Feudal Law. The control and use of the lands of a deceased tenant by knight-service, and the guardianship of the infant heir during his or her minority. ME.
Care or charge of a prisoner; the condition of being a prisoner; custody, imprisonment. Now rare. ME.
Scots Law (now Hist.). Land tenure by military service (freq. in hold ward). Also, a payment in commutation of military service. E16.
A defensive posture or movement in fencing; fig. (arch.) a defensive position or attitude. L16.
b. Defence, protection, shelter. L16-L17.
II. A body of guards.
A company of watchmen or guards. Now rare. OE.
Any of the three main divisions of an army (the van, the rear, and the middle). Orig. as 2nd elem. of comb. ME-M17.
A garrison. L15-M17.
III. A place for guarding.
The inner or outer circuit of the walls of a castle; the ground between two encircling walls of a fortress. Formerly also, a portion of the defences of a fortress entrusted to a particular officer or division of the garrison; a guarded entrance. Now arch. or Hist. ME.
Orig., a prison. Later, each of the divisions or separate sections of a prison. ME.
E. Wallace Lane..was in the same ward at Dartmoor; we came out together.
a. An administrative division of a borough or city, orig. under the jurisdiction of an alderman, now usu. electing its own councillors. Also, the people of such a district collectively. ME.
b. Chiefly Hist. An administrative division of some Scottish and northern English counties. LME.
c. An administrative division of the Mormon Church; a Mormon congregation. M19.
A division of a forest; an enclosed piece of land; a field. Scot. LME.
A store-cupboard, a storeroom. E16-M18.
A room in a hospital etc. containing a number of beds, or allocated to a particular class of patients; the smallest administrative division for in-patients in a hospital. Also more widely, a dormitory in any building providing temporary accommodation. E17.
casual ward: see CASUAL adjective. Nightingale ward: see NIGHTINGALE noun2 2. OBSERVATION ward. open ward: see OPEN adjective.
Look Now A Nursing Officer responsible for three or more wards.
b. The patients in a hospital ward collectively. M18.
IV. A person under guardianship.
a. A minor under the control of a guardian. Now also = ward of court below. ME.
ward in Chancery: see CHANCERY. ward of court a minor for whom a guardian has been appointed by the Court of Chancery, or who has become directly subject to the authority of that court.
b. gen. A person who is under the protection or control of another. LME.
An orphan under age. M-L16.
Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet His son was but a ward two years ago.
V. An appliance for guarding.
Usu. in pl.
a. The ridges projecting from the inside plate of a lock, serving to prevent the passage of any key which does not have incisions of corresponding form and size. Also (popularly), the incisions in a lock. LME.
J. I. M. Stewart There was a harsh grating sound..and the key turned in its wards.
b. The incisions in the bit of a key, corresponding to the projecting ridges of the lock. Also (popularly), the projections in a key. LME.
In pl. Any notches and projections in a mechanical device which resemble the wards of a lock and key. L16.
Comb.: ward aide a person employed to do non-medical work in a hospital ward; ward-book a register of admissions to a hospital; ward-heeler US a local follower of the political head of a ward (sense 11a); a party worker in elections etc.; ward-heeling adjective (US) pertaining to, engaged in, or designating, the activities of a ward-heeler; ward-holding Scots Law (now Hist.) a tenure of lands by military service (cf. sense 4 above); ward maid a female hospital orderly; wardmote (chiefly Hist.) a meeting of the citizens of a ward, orig. esp. (in the City of London) a meeting of the liverymen of a ward under the presidency of the alderman; ward orderly a person employed to assist nurses in a hospital ward; ward-room (a) the dining-room of naval commissioned officers above the rank of sub-lieutenant; commissioned officers as a body; (b) a military guardroom; ward round a visit paid by a doctor (sometimes accompanied by medical students) to each of the patients in his or her care or in a particular ward or wards; wardsman, wardswoman (a) an inmate appointed to supervise a ward in a prison or workhouse; (b) Austral. (wardsman) a hospital orderly; ward-woman arch. a lady's maid, a woman in charge of her mistress's wardrobe.
wardatar noun (Scots Feudal Law) the person having wardship of lands while the heir is a minor M16.
warded adjective (of a key or lock) constructed with wards L16.

596848