Guardian

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: guard=i=an

CIDE DICTIONARY

Guardian, n. [OF. guardain, gardien, F. gardien, LL. guardianus. See Guard, v. t., and cf. Wasden.].

•  One who guards, preserves, or secures; one to whom any person or thing is committed for protection, security, or preservation from injury; a warden.  [1913 Webster]
•  One who has, or is entitled to, the custody of the person or property of an infant, a minor without living parents, or a person incapable of managing his own affairs.  [1913 Webster]

  "Of the several species of guardians, the first are guardians by nature. -- viz., the father and (in some cases) the mother of the child."  [1913 Webster]

Guardian ad litem ( (Law), a guardian appointed by a court of justice to conduct a particular suit. -- Guardians of the poor, the members of a board appointed or elected to care for the relief of the poor within a township, or district.

Guardian, a. 

 Performing, or appropriate to, the office of a protector; as, a guardian care.  [1913 Webster]

Feast of Guardian Angels (R. C. Ch.) a church festival instituted by Pope Paul V., and celebrated on October 2d. -- Guardian angel. (a) The particular spiritual being believed in some branches of the Christian church to have guardianship and protection of each human being from birth. (b) Hence, a protector or defender in general. O. W. Holmes. -- Guardian spirit, in the belief of many pagan nations, a spirit, often of a deceased relative or friend, that presides over the interests of a household, a city, or a region.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Guardian, n.
1 a defender, protector, or keeper.
2 a person having legal custody of another person and his or her property when that person is incapable of managing his or her own affairs.
3 the superior of a Franciscan convent.

Idiom

guardian angel a spirit conceived as watching over a person or place.

Derivative

guardianship n.

Etymology

ME f. AF gardein, OF garden f. Frank., rel. to WARD, WARDEN

THESAURUS

Guardian

MC, air warden, ancestral spirits, angel, attendant, attendant godling, attorney, bailiff, bull, butler, caretaker, castellan, cerberus, champion, commandant, conservator, control, covering, croupier, curator, custodial, custodian, custos, daemon, defender, defensive, demon, emcee, factor, fairy godmother, familiar, familiar spirit, forest ranger, fostering, game warden, gamekeeper, gaoler, genius, genius domus, genius loci, good angel, good genius, governor, guard, guardian angel, guardian spirit, guarding, guide, household gods, housekeeper, immunizing, invisible helper, jailer, janitor, keeper, landreeve, lares and penates, lares compitales, lares familiaris, lares permarini, lares praestites, lares viales, librarian, lifeguard, lifesaver, majordomo, manes, master of ceremonies, ministering angel, next friend, numen, paladin, parental, penates, preserver, preventive, principal keeper, prison guard, prochein ami, proctor, procurator, prophylactic, protecting, protective, protector, ranger, safeguarding, screening, screw, seneschal, sheltering, shepherd, shielding, special providence, steward, totem, trustee, turnkey, tutelar god, tutelary, vigilant, warden, warder, watchdog, watchful

ROGET THESAURUS

Guardian

Safety

N safety, security, surety, impregnability, invulnerability, invulnerableness, danger past, danger over, storm blown over, coast clear, escape, means of escape, blow valve, safety valve, release valve, sniffing valve, safeguard, palladium, guardianship, wardship, wardenship, tutelage, custody, safekeeping, preservation, protection, auspices, safe-conduct, escort, convoy, guard, shield, guardian angel, tutelary god, tutelary deity, tutelary saint, genius loci, protector, guardian, warden, warder, preserver, custodian, duenna, chaperon, third person, watchdog, bandog, Cerberus, watchman, patrolman, policeman, cop, dick, fuzz, smokey, peeler, zarp, sentinel, sentry, scout, garrison, guardship, refuge &c, anchor, precaution, quarantine, cordon sanitaire, confidence, protect, take care of, preserve, cover, screen, shelter, shroud, flank, ward, guard, secure, entrench, intrench, fence round, house, nestle, ensconce, take charge of, escort, convoy, garrison, watch, mount guard, patrol, make assurance doubly sure, take up a loose thread, take precautions, double reef topsails, seek safety, take shelter, find shelter, Adj, safe, secure, sure, in safety, in security, on the safe side, under the shield of, under the shade of, under the wing of, under the shadow of one's wing, under cover, under lock and key, out of danger, out of the woods, out of the meshes, out of harm's way, unharmed, unscathed, on sure ground, at anchor, high and dry, above water, unthreatened, unmolested, protected, cavendo tutus, panoplied, snug, seaworthy, weatherproof, waterproof, fireproof, defensible, tenable, proof against, invulnerable, unassailable, unattackable, impenetrable, impregnable, imperdible, inexpugnable, Achillean, safe and sound, scathless, unhazarded, not dangerous, unthreatening, harmless, friendly (cooperative), protecting, protective, guardian, tutelary, preservative, trustworthy, ex abundanti cautela, with impunity, all's well, salva res est, suave mari magno, a couvert, e terra alterius spectare laborem, Dieu vous garde, safety, security, surety, impregnability, invulnerability, invulnerableness, danger past, danger over, storm blown over, coast clear, escape, means of escape, blow valve, safety valve, release valve, sniffing valve, safeguard, palladium, guardianship, wardship, wardenship, tutelage, custody, safekeeping, preservation, protection, auspices, safe-conduct, escort, convoy, guard, shield, guardian angel, tutelary god, tutelary deity, tutelary saint, genius loci, protector, guardian, warden, warder, preserver, custodian, duenna, chaperon, third person, watchdog, bandog, Cerberus, watchman, patrolman, policeman, cop, dick, fuzz, smokey, peeler, zarp, sentinel, sentry, scout, garrison, guardship, refuge &c, anchor, precaution, quarantine, cordon sanitaire, confidence, protect, take care of, preserve, cover, screen, shelter, shroud, flank, ward, guard, secure, entrench, intrench, fence round, house, nestle, ensconce, take charge of, escort, convoy, garrison, watch, mount guard, patrol, make assurance doubly sure, take up a loose thread, take precautions, double reef topsails, seek safety, take shelter, find shelter, Adj, safe, secure, sure, in safety, in security, on the safe side, under the shield of, under the shade of, under the wing of, under the shadow of one's wing, under cover, under lock and key, out of danger, out of the woods, out of the meshes, out of harm's way, unharmed, unscathed, on sure ground, at anchor, high and dry, above water, unthreatened, unmolested, protected, cavendo tutus, panoplied, snug, seaworthy, weatherproof, waterproof, fireproof, defensible, tenable, proof against, invulnerable, unassailable, unattackable, impenetrable, impregnable, imperdible, inexpugnable, Achillean, safe and sound, scathless, unhazarded, not dangerous, unthreatening, harmless, friendly (cooperative), protecting, protective, guardian, tutelary, preservative, trustworthy, ex abundanti cautela, with impunity, all's well, salva res est, suave mari magno, a couvert, e terra alterius spectare laborem, Dieu vous garde.

Defense

N defense, protection, guard, ward, shielding, propugnation, preservation, guardianship, area defense, site defense, self-defense, self-preservation, resistance, safeguard, balistraria, bunker, screen, camouflage, fortification, munition, muniment, trench, foxhole, bulwark, fosse, moat, ditch, entrenchment, intrenchment, kila, dike, dyke, parapet, sunk fence, embankment, mound, mole, bank, sandbag, revetment, earth work, field- work, fence, wall dead wall, contravallation, paling, palisade, haha, stockade, stoccado, laager, sangar, barrier, barricade, boom, portcullis, chevaux de frise, abatis, abattis, abbatis, vallum, circumvallation, battlement, rampart, scarp, escarp, counter-scarp, glacis, casemate, vallation, vanfos, buttress, abutment, shore, breastwork, banquette, curtain, mantlet, bastion, redan, ravelin, vauntmure, advance work, horn work, outwork, barbacan, barbican, redoubt, fort-elage, fort-alice, lines, loophole, machicolation, sally port, hold, stronghold, fastness, asylum, keep, donjon, dungeon, fortress, citadel, capitol, castle, tower of strength, tower of strength, fort, barracoon, pah, sconce, martello tower, peelhouse, blockhouse, rath, wooden walls, bulletproof vest, armored vest, buffer, corner stone, fender, apron, mask, gauntlet, thimble, carapace, armor, shield, buckler, aegis, breastplate, backplate, cowcatcher, face guard, scutum, cuirass, habergeon, mail, coat of mail, brigandine, hauberk, lorication, helmet, helm, bassinet, salade, heaume, morion, murrion, armet, cabaset, vizor, casquetel, siege cap, headpiece, casque, pickelhaube, vambrace, shako, bearskin, panoply, truncheon, garrison, picket, piquet, defender, protector, guardian, bodyguard, champion, knight-errant, Paladin, propugner, bulletproof window, hardened site, defending, defensive, mural, armed, armed at all points, armed cap-a-pie, armed to the teeth, panoplied, iron-plated, ironclad, loopholed, castellated, machicolated, casemated, defended, proof against, armored, ballproof, bulletproof, hardened, defensively, on the defense, on the defensive, in defense, at bay, pro aris et focis, Int, no surrender!, defense not defiance, Dieu defend le droit, fidei defensor, defender of the faith.

Keeper

N keeper, custodian, custos, ranger, warder, jailer, gaoler, turnkey, castellan, guard, watchdog, watchman, Charley, chokidar, durwan, hayward, sentry, sentinel, watch and ward, concierge, coast guard, guarda costa, game keeper, escort, bodyguard, protector, governor, duenna, guardian, governess, nurse, nanny, babysitter, catsitter, dogsitter, bonne, ayah.