Warded

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To be encompassed by protective measures that guard against threats or risks To have been enveloped or surrounded to mitigate external dangers To have received safeguarding from harm through various defenses or obstacles
2. Shielded by a physical or metaphorical barrier to prevent intrusion or attack ; assigned to the care or custody of someone for protection or oversight
3. Defended by means of a surrounding protection against harm or access ; put under watchful care or authority to ensure safety or control

Etymology: "Warded" is the past tense and past participle of "ward," and the verb traces back to Old English "weardian," meaning to watch, guard, keep, or protect. That verb grew from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to guard," and it is a close relative of "warden" and "wary." English also has "guard," which came in through Old French, so "ward" and "guard" are doublets: two forms of one Germanic root that entered the language by different routes. The noun "ward" carried a range of older senses that show how the idea spread. In Old English, "weard" could mean a watchman or protector, but also a lord or king, and it could describe an advance post or an ambush. The sense of a guarded place, a person under protection, or a district under oversight developed from that core of watching and keeping. The verb's sense of shielding someone or something from harm, and of placing a person in another's care, follows the same pattern.

Synonyms: protected, guarded, safeguarded, defended, shielded

Antonyms: exposed, vulnerable, unprotected, defenseless, open