bard
/bɑɹd/noun, verb
bard is spelled B-A-R-D: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,537th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, bard means “A professional poet and singer, like among the ancient Celts, whose occupation was to compose and sing verses in honor of the heroic achievements of…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bard is bards.
How many letters and syllables are in bard?
| Letters | 4: B-A-R-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.2 times per million words; the 18,537th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is bard?
Bard appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,537th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bard?
- UK /bɑːd/
- US /bɑɹd/
Bard has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-bard.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with bard
Sounds like: barred (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with bard?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as bard from its last stressed vowel (/ɑɹd/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: brad, drab, darb.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of bard
- bards plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- barding participle, present
- barded participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bard mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A professional poet and singer, like among the ancient Celts, whose occupation was to compose and sing verses in honor of the heroic achievements of princes and brave men.
- 2
A poet.
Shakespeare is known as the bard of Avon.
- 3
A class of character that typically focuses on charisma, magic and supporting other players; a fantasy fiction character inspired by this archetype.
- 4
A piece of defensive (or, sometimes, ornamental) armor for a horse's neck, breast, and flanks; a barb. (Often in the plural.)
- 5
Defensive armor formerly worn by a man at arms.
- 6
A thin slice of fat bacon used to cover any meat or game.
- 7
The exterior covering of the trunk and branches of a tree; the rind.
- 8
Specifically, Peruvian bark.
verb
- 1
To cover a horse in defensive armor.
- 2
To cover (meat or game) with a thin slice of fat bacon.
noun
- 1
Abbreviation of beyond a reasonable doubt.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bard in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense professional poet and singer – see also minstrel:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does bard come from?
First use appears c. 1449. From Scottish Gaelic bàrd, from Old Irish bard, from Proto-Celtic *bardos (“bard, poet”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH- (“praise”), and reinforced by Latin bardus, borrowed from Celtic. Cognate with Latin grātus (“grateful, pleasant, delightful”), Sanskrit गृणाति (gṛṇāti, “calls, praises”), Old Church Slavonic жрьти (žrĭti, “to sacrifice”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).