Meaning & use
guardian
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Meanings
nouncountablelegal
An adult who has the legal duty to look after a child or another person who cannot manage their own affairs.
Grammar: Takes a plural: the children's guardians signed the form.
Patterns
- guardian of someone
- legal guardian
After her parents died, her aunt became her legal guardian.
The school needs a signature from a parent or guardian.
The court appointed a guardian to handle the elderly man's finances.
nouncountable
Someone or something that watches over and defends a person, place, or valued thing.
Grammar: Often followed by of: a guardian of tradition.
Patterns
- guardian of something
The old dog acted as the guardian of the farmyard.
Librarians see themselves as guardians of free access to knowledge.
Stone lions stand as guardians at the temple gate.
Word forms
| plural | guardians |
|---|
Common combinations
- legal guardian
- You will need your legal guardian's consent to enroll.
- appoint a guardian
- The judge appointed a guardian for the two orphaned boys.
- parent or guardian
- Children under twelve must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
- guardian angel
- She called the kind stranger her guardian angel.
- guardian of the law
- Judges are often described as guardians of the law.
Synonyms and how they differ
- custodian
- Custodian stresses looking after property or an institution, while guardian more often suggests protecting a person.
- protector
- Protector focuses on shielding from harm and carries no legal meaning, unlike guardian in its formal sense.
- keeper
- Keeper suggests holding or minding something, such as a lighthouse or animals, with less sense of defending it.
- warden
- Warden implies official supervision of a place or rules, not personal care.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: guardian or guard?
guardian vs guard
A guard is a person on watch or a protective device, often paid to do the job. A guardian has a deeper duty of care or legal responsibility.
Practice
A court gave her uncle the legal right and duty to raise her. He is her ______.
Choose one answer.
A guardian is the person legally responsible for a child. A custodian looks after things or institutions, and the others have no duty of care.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “guardian”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.