The Guard Family

The Guard Family The Guard Family The Guard Family By Mark Nichol Guard is the basis of a family of words pertaining to protection; these terms are listed and defined in the post below. Guard, from the French verb garder (formerly also spelled guarder and warder), meaning â€Å"defend† and related to the Old High German term warten, meaning â€Å"take care,† has several senses: It refers to someone (or a group) assigned to protect someone or watch something or to the act of defending someone or keeping an eye on something, or the state of being protected. It also pertains to a protective component or device, to an athlete who has a defensive or protective role in competition, or to a defensive attitude, position, or state. One can be said to be on guard, or in a state of readiness, or to be off guard; the latter phrase is generally seen in the phrase â€Å"catch (or â€Å"caught†) off guard.† It is also a verb, and the adjective is guarded, guardedly is the adverbial form, and guardedness describes the state of being alert. Guard appears in the open compound â€Å"guard dog† and the closed compound guardrail. It is the root of guardian, a word describing a person in a protective role (such as an adult who serves as a surrogate parent for a minor); the state of being a guardian is guardianship. The phrase â€Å"guardian angel,† based on the notion of a protective supernatural being, now often refers to a flesh-and-blood person in such a role. â€Å"En garde,† taken directly from French, means â€Å"on (your) guard† and serves in fencing as a spoken warning for competitors to be prepared to defend themselves. Regard, as a noun meaning â€Å"consideration† or â€Å"judgment† (with the antonym disregard) or, as a verb, â€Å"consider† or â€Å"judge,† is from the French verb regarder, meaning â€Å"look at.† As a noun, it also has the sense of â€Å"respect,† and as such is used in correspondence in plural form as a sign-off. Self-regard refers to consideration of oneself or one’s interests. Regardless is an adjective with the sense of â€Å"in spite of† or â€Å"without consideration†; irregardless is an unfortunate and unnecessary variant careful writers will assiduously be on their guard to avoid. An advance guard or vanguard was originally a military unit that preceded the main body of troops into battle; the latter term now usually refers to a person or group at the forefront of a movement. Avant-garde is the French equivalent, borrowed into English with that sense but now figuratively describing an innovative artist, musician, or writer, or a work of art or literary or musical composition that is ground-breaking, or an entire creative movement considered as such. A rearguard, by contrast with a vanguard, protects a retreating force, and by analogy the word also pertains to resistance to an overwhelming phenomenon. â€Å"Honor guard† refers to a member of the military who has a ceremonial function or to a small unit of military personnel with such a role. Closed compounds with guard as the second element include bodyguard, referring to an individual assigned or hired to protect someone or to a group or unit in that role; lifeguard, originally a synonym for bodyguard but now the designation for a person trained to rescue people from a body of water when they are at risk of drowning; and safeguard, which means â€Å"something that provides protection.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Punctuating â€Å"So† at the Beginning of a SentenceStory Writing 101Drama vs. Melodrama