warder

Name: warder, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

noun

By PlainSpell Editorial Team · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“warder” is an uncommon English word, ranked #64,115 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#64,115
frequency rank, English: 6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A guard, especially in a prison.

Key facts for warder
Property	Value
Headword	warder
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
Letters	6
Frequency rank	#64,115
Misspellings tracked	0
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “warder” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). warder lands here:

#64,115

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for warder is 6 letters long, classified as a noun. Corpus data places it at rank #64,115 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for warder, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English warder, wardere, perhaps in part continuing Old English weardere (“one who holds a country; inhabitant”), from Proto-West Germanic *wardārī (“guard, follower, watchman, lookout”), equivalent to ward + -er. Cognate with Dutch waarder (“in… The correct English form is warder, spelled W-A-R-D-E-R.

Definition

1
A guard, especially in a prison.
2
One who or that which wards or repels.

Etymology

From Middle English warder, wardere, perhaps in part continuing Old English weardere (“one who holds a country; inhabitant”), from Proto-West Germanic *wardārī (“guard, follower, watchman, lookout”), equivalent to ward + -er. Cognate with Dutch waarder (“inspector”), German Low German Wärder (“guard, watchman”), German Wärter (“guard, keeper, attendant”).

This word in other languages

Wärter(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "warder"?

"warder" is spelled W-A-R-D-E-R.

What does "warder" mean?

As a noun, "warder" means: A guard, especially in a prison.

What is the origin of the word "warder"?

From Middle English warder, wardere, perhaps in part continuing Old English weardere (“one who holds a country; inhabitant”), from Proto-West Germanic *wardārī (“guard, follower, watchman, lookout”), equivalent to ward + -er. Cognate with Dutch wa... See the full etymology section above for more details.

Is PlainSpell free to use?

Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “warder”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

The one correct English spelling is W-A-R-D-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.