warden

B1 Topic:Places & Geography

US /ˈwɔɹdən/ UK /ˈwɔːdən/ See IPA manual

Freq #4979

Meanings

1

noun
an official responsible for supervising a place, activity, or body of rules

The park warden closed the trail during the fire warning.
2

noun
the chief official in charge of a prison

The prison warden ordered an immediate review of security.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an official responsible for... custodian supervisor

2 noun · the chief official in... governor superintendent

Word family

Derived forms chapelwardenchurchwardenfirewardensubwardenwardenesswardenlesswardenrywardenshipwaywarden

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

game warden
an official who protects wildlife and enforces rules about hunting

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

Warden is a Middle English derivative of the same old Germanic element meaning “to watch or guard” that produced ward and, through Old French, guard. Its initial w preserves the Germanic form, contrasting with the g-form introduced through Romance.

Etymology

From Middle English wardein, from Anglo-Norman wardein, from warder (“to guard”), variant of Old French guarder (“to guard”) (whence modern French garder, also English guard), from Proto-Germanic *ward-; related to Old High German wartēn (“to watch”). Compare guardian, French gardien, from Old French guardian, guardein. Compare also ward and reward. Doublet of guardian.

Topics

Places & Geography

External links

# warden

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈwɔɹdən/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈwɔːdən/
**Frequency rank:** 4979

## Meanings
1. an official responsible for supervising a place, activity, or body of rules
2. the chief official in charge of a prison

## Examples
- The park warden closed the trail during the fire warning.
- The prison warden ordered an immediate review of security.

## Synonyms
- custodian
- supervisor
- governor
- superintendent

## Derived Forms
- chapelwarden
- churchwarden
- firewarden
- subwarden
- wardeness
- wardenless
- wardenry
- wardenship
- waywarden

## Etymology
From Middle English wardein, from Anglo-Norman wardein, from warder (“to guard”), variant of Old French guarder (“to guard”) (whence modern French garder, also English guard), from Proto-Germanic *ward-; related to Old High German wartēn (“to watch”). Compare guardian, French gardien, from Old French guardian, guardein. Compare also ward and reward. Doublet of guardian.

## Topics
- Places & Geography

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