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guardian

/ˈɡɑɹ.di.ən/noun

guardian is spelled G-U-A-R-D-I-A-N: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 18 times per million words in written English, the 4,589th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, guardian means “Someone who guards, watches over, or protects” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of guardian is guardians.

How many letters and syllables are in guardian?

Letters8: G-U-A-R-D-I-A-N
Syllables3 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing18 times per million words; the 4,589th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

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).

How common is guardian?

Guardian appears 18 times per million words in written English, the 4,589th 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 guardian?

  • UK /ˈɡɑː.dɪ.ən/
  • US /ˈɡɑɹ.di.ən/
  • US /ˈɡɑɹ.din/

Guardian has 3 syllables (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-guardian.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of guardian

  • guardians plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does guardian mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Someone who guards, watches over, or protects.

  2. 2

    A person legally responsible for a minor (in loco parentis).

  3. 3

    A person legally responsible for an incompetent person.

  4. 4

    A superior in a Franciscan monastery.

  5. 5

    A major or final enemy; boss.

  6. 6

    USA servicemember of the United States Space Force.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Guardian in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchgardien (guard or watcher), tuteur, tutrice (law: person legally responsible for a minor in…), curateur, curatrice (law: person responsible for incompetent person)
GermanWächter, Wache (guard or watcher), Vormund, Erziehungsberechtigter, Erziehungsberechtigte (law: person legally responsible for a minor in…), Betreuer (law: person responsible for incompetent person)
Portugueseguardião, guarda (guard or watcher), chefão (final video game enemy)
Spanishguardián, guardia (guard or watcher), apoderado, tutor, custodio (law: person legally responsible for a minor in…)

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 guardian come from?

From Middle English gardein, garden, (also wardein, > Modern English warden), from Old French guardein, from the verb guarder, of Germanic origin. Compare French gardien. Doublet of warden. By surface analysis, guard + -ian.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after guardian