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PlainSpell

ward

/wɔɹd/noun, verb

ward is spelled W-A-R-D: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 23 times per million words in written English, the 3,814th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, ward means “The action of a watchman; monitoring, surveillance (usually in phrases keep ward etc.)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ward is wards.

How many letters and syllables are in ward?

Letters4: W-A-R-D
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing23 times per million words; the 3,814th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
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 ward?

Ward appears 23 times per million words in written English, the 3,814th 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 ward?

  • UK /wɔːd/
  • US /wɔɹd/

Ward 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-ward.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with ward?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as ward from its last stressed vowel (/ɔɹd/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: draw.

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 ward

  • wards plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • warding participle, present
  • warded participle, past

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

What does ward mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    The action of a watchman; monitoring, surveillance (usually in phrases keep ward etc.)

  2. 2

    Guardianship, especially of a child or prisoner.

  3. 3

    An enchantment or spell placed over a designated area or social unit, that prevents any tresspasser from entering; approaching; or even being able to locate said protected premises or demographic.

  4. 4

    A guarding or defensive motion or position.

  5. 5

    Land tenure through military service.

  6. 6

    An area of a castle, corresponding to a circuit of the walls.

  7. 7

    A section or subdivision of a prison.

  8. 8

    An administrative division of a borough, city or council.

    On our last visit to Tokyo, we went to Chiyoda ward and visited the Emperor’s palace.

  9. 9

    archaicobsoleteA warden; a guard; a guardian or watchman.

verb

  1. 1

    To keep in safety, to watch over, to guard.

  2. 2

    To defend, to protect.

  3. 3

    To fend off, to repel, to turn aside, as anything mischievous that approaches. (usually followed by off)

  4. 4

    To be vigilant; to keep guard.

  5. 5

    To act on the defensive with a weapon.

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

Ward in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchgarde (action of a watchman), cour (area of a castle), quartier (section of a prison), arrondissement (administrative subdivision of cities), paroisse (Mormonism: subdivision of church)
GermanWache (action of a watchman), Stadtbezirk (administrative subdivision of cities), Gemeinde (Mormonism: subdivision of church), Station (part of a hospital where patients reside), Mündel, Pflegling (person under guardianship)
Portugueseguarda (action of a watchman), pavilhão (section of a prison), freguesia (administrative subdivision of cities), ala (Mormonism: subdivision of church), enfermaria (part of a hospital where patients reside), tutelado (person under guardianship)
Spanishguardia (action of a watchman), barrio (Mormonism: subdivision of church), sala, pabellón (part of a hospital where patients reside), pupilo, entenado (person under guardianship)

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 ward come from?

From Middle English ward, warde, from Old English weard (“watching, ward, protection, guardianship; advance post; waiting for, lurking, ambuscade”), from Proto-West Germanic *wardu, from Proto-Germanic *wardō (“protection, attention, keeping”), an extension of the stem *wara- (“attentive”) (English wary, beware), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to cover”).

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

What to look up after ward