"guard (person)" in seven languages
Meaningguard (person)
Spanish
/ˈgwaɾdja/
masc.inherited
El guardia / la guardia for the person; la guardia is also the corps.
French
/gaʁd/
masc.inherited
Le garde is the person, la garde the body of guards or custody.
Italian
/ˈgwardja/
fem.inherited
Always feminine, even for a man: una guardia.
Portuguese
/ˈgwahdɐ/
masc.inherited
Romanian
/ˈpaznik/
masc.other source · pază 'watch' (Slavic) + -nic
Catalan
/ˈgwaɾdiə/
masc.inherited
English
/gɑɹd/
from Latin/French · Old French garde
Native ward is the same Germanic word that never went through French.
The ancestor
Germanic *wardōn‘to watch, look after’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Germanic w- became gu- in Spanish and Italian and plain g- in French. English got both: guard from French and ward natively.
English relatives: guardian, regard, wardrobe, ward
Sound laws at work
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In a sentence
- esEl guardia abrió la puerta.
- frLe garde a ouvert la porte.
- itLa guardia ha aperto la porta.
- ptO guarda abriu a porta.
- roPaznicul a deschis ușa.
- caEl guàrdia va obrir la porta.
- enThe guard opened the door.