lifeguard

B1 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈlaɪfˌɡɑɹd/ See IPA manual

Freq #15668

Meanings

1

noun
A person whose job is to watch swimmers at a beach or pool and rescue them if they are in danger.

The lifeguard blew her whistle when the children swam too far out.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person whose job is to... lifesaver

Word family

Forms lifeguards

Derived forms lifeguardedlifeguarding

Etymology

From life + guard, calque of Dutch lijfgarde, where life has the sense of Dutch lijf (“body”) (hence literally “bodyguard”). Compare German Leibgarde (“bodyguard”), Danish livgarde (“bodyguard”), Swedish livgarde (“bodyguard”). Compare also Old English līfweard (“guardian of life”).

Topics

People & Society

External links

# lifeguard

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈlaɪfˌɡɑɹd/
**Frequency rank:** 15668

## Meanings
1. A person whose job is to watch swimmers at a beach or pool and rescue them if they are in danger.

## Examples
- The lifeguard blew her whistle when the children swam too far out.

## Derived Forms
- lifeguarded
- lifeguarding

## Etymology
From life + guard, calque of Dutch lijfgarde, where life has the sense of Dutch lijf (“body”) (hence literally “bodyguard”). Compare German Leibgarde (“bodyguard”), Danish livgarde (“bodyguard”), Swedish livgarde (“bodyguard”). Compare also Old English līfweard (“guardian of life”).

## AI Etymology
Lifeguard comes from life + guard, calque of Dutch lijfgarde, where life has the sense of Dutch lijf (“body”) (hence literally “bodyguard”). Compare German Leibgarde (“bodyguard”), Danish livgarde (“bodyguard”), Swedish livgarde (“bodyguard”). Compare also Old English līfweard (“guardian of life”). The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern nominal form is built from the named base and affix.

## Topics
- People & Society

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