Ward

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /wɔːd/

Definitions

1. A division of a hospital, a person under legal protection, or to deflect something away
2. A section of a hospital or school, a person placed under guardianship, or to safeguard against an attack or unwanted influence
3. A specific area within a healthcare facility, an individual receiving care or protection, or to prevent something from causing harm

Etymology: Hospital wards, prison wards and the "ward" in a court of law all descend from a single Old English idea of watching over someone. The Old English "weard" meant keeper, watchman or guardian, and it could also mean a lord or king, the person who held and protected what was his. The same stem produced the verb "weardian", to guard, keep or govern, which is the ancestor of the modern verb meaning to protect or avert harm. The noun's meanings spread out from that core of guarding. "Ward" could mean a watch or a lookout, the act of waiting in ambush, or a protected area of a town or city. Medieval English also used it for a person placed under a guardian, a sense that survives in the legal term for a minor or incapable adult under a court's protection. The hospital sense, a room or section where patients are kept under constant care, is a later extension of this idea of keeping under watch. "Ward" is a doublet of "guard", and the two entered English by different routes. "Ward" came straight from Old English, while "guard" arrived through Old French, which had adopted a Germanic form with a "gu-" sound in place of the English "w-". The pair shows how one ancient word can split into two English forms, with one keeping the Germanic shape and the other picking up a French one.

Synonyms: district, division, department, area, section

Antonyms: whole, entirety, unity