Guardian

How to spell guardian

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce guardian

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does guardian mean?

1. nounA person who protects or is legally responsible for another, especially a child or someone unable to manage their own affairs.

Guardian in a sentence

• The court appointed a legal guardian for the orphaned children.

• Every pupil must have a parent or guardian sign the permission form.

Where does guardian come from?

Language of origin: French

The word comes into English from the Old French gardien or guardien, meaning 'one who guards or protects', which was built on the verb garder, 'to watch over' or 'to keep'. That French verb traces back not to Latin but to a Frankish, and ultimately Germanic, root wardon, meaning 'to watch or guard', the very same source that also gave English the plain native word 'ward'. Because the word travelled through Norman and Old French, English ended up with two parallel forms from one Germanic origin: 'warden' through one route and 'guardian' through the French route, which explains the puzzling 'gu' at the front. English adopted guardian in the 1400s, first in the legal sense of a person appointed to care for someone unable to manage their own affairs. The silent, soft 'gu' opening (sounded as a hard g) is the spelling trap, since the word is pronounced as though it simply began with 'g'.

How the word is built

• guard (to watch over, protect)
• -ian (agent/noun suffix denoting a person)