GUARDIAN

guardian, one who guards or defends another, a protector. the o. fr. _guarden_, _garden_, mod. _gardien_, from _guarder_, _garder_, is of teutonic origin, from the base _war-_, to protect, cf. o.h. ger. _warten_, and eng. "ward"; thus "guardian" and "warden" are etymologically identical, as are "guard" and "ward"; cf. the use of the correlatives "guardian" and "ward," i.e. a minor, or person incapable of managing his affairs, under the protection or in the custody of a guardian. for the position of guardians of the poor see poor law, and for the legal relations between a guardian and his ward see infant, marriage and roman law.